On Fri, 30 Oct 2009, Will Parsons wrote:

> Marnen Laibow-Koser wrote:
>> Will Parsons wrote:
>>> Marnen Laibow-Koser wrote:
>>>> James Britt wrote:
>>>> [...]
>>>>> Users will still have to have Java installed to use a JRuby app.
>>>>
>>>> I know, but I think I can rely on that.  Have you seen a computer
>>>> without a JVM lately?
>>>
>>> Yes.  I'm working on one right now.
>>
>> Really?  Under what circumstances?  Even "can't-change-anything"
>> corporate deployments tend to have a usable JVM.
>
> I administer a couple of machines at work running FreeBSD (one of them
> mainly used as a server, one for development), and my main machine at home
> also runs FreeBSD, all without Java.
>
>>> If you want maximum cross-platform,
>>> you shouldn't rely on having Java.
>>
>> Got a better idea, short of dropping Ruby for this project?  Native
>> packaging on wx?
>
> Personally, I'd take another look at FXRuby or Tk.  (I've never used
> wxRuby, so I really don't know its pluses and minuses.)  Maybe JRuby is the
> right way to go for your purposes, but you shuold realize that presence of
> Java is not universal.
>

I would argue that these machines are a special case.  Since he's said 
that he's working on a *desktop* application, then the server machines are 
"right out".  As for desktops, the vast majority of them will have java. 
It may not be universal, but it's certainly more available without 
requiring users to install additional software than Tk.  Moreover, with 
JRuby, all of the dependencies, as well as the application, can be shipped 
in a single jar file, or distributed via WebStart, which makes for a 
relatively pain-free install.

Matt