On Wed, 24 Dec 2003, Curt Hibbs wrote:

# Phil Tomson wrote:
# > Joey Gibson  <joey / joeygibson.com> wrote:
# > >
# > >This is the situation I tried to point out at RubyConf that I'd seen with
# > >RedHat's rpm package manager. Namely that if I've already installed a
# > >piece of software, without using the package manager, what will happen
# > >when I try to install something else that _does_ use the package manager?
# > >I don't really know how to solve it unless you can fake out the package
# > >manager (gem-thingy) or have the gem producer provide some sort of test
# > >that the gem-thingy can use at install time to check for the existence of
# > >a piece of software that was installed manually. Maybe a
# > filename/pathname
# > >that it can check for as a last resort if the gem for a needed something
# > >isn't found.
# >
# > Something like:
# >
# > #let's see if they've already got rexml:
# > begin
# >   require 'rexml'
# > rescue MissingPackage #or whatever it's really called
# >   #it's really not here, so go look for one to download
# >   ...
# > else
# >   #it is here already, maybe check out the version somehow
# >   #otherwise everything should be OK
# > end
# 
# This is too simple. RubyGems should also check that the proper version is
# installed.
# 
# I think that RubyGems should optionally allow the user to inform it of a
# manual installation when a gem is not found, prompting the user for the need
# information (like version number installed). That particular gem would then
# be entered into its gem-database as having been installed manually for
# future use.
# 
# Correspondingly, there should be an option to remove such a
# manual-installation-entry from the RubyGems database.
# 


I think this is a reasonable method of dealing with things.  It feels like 
a temporary measure, which it ideally would be.


Chad