Question

I am using Ubuntu 12.04 and I have system default ruby 1.8 and 1.9.1 and 1.9.3. The problem is that I do manage to switch to 1.9.3 but not the gems for the 1.9.3 and by default system is using the 1.9.1 gems. This causes a lot of errors while using the rails and other ruby libs which are dependent on the 1.9.3.

I tried to use

sudo update-alternatives –config ruby

sudo update-alternatives –config gems

and it doesn’t offered me to choose 1.9.3 gems but only managed to switch the ruby interpreter. I tried rbenv and rvm but no use. While using the rails and the shoes, I get plenty of errors related to the gems of 1.9.1.

Also when I use the switch with rvm, it asks me to install ruby 1.9.3 which is already installed but doesn’t show up for rvm and rbenv.

Is there something wrong with ruby on this system?

Answer 1

you might be confusing compatibility level with the real ruby version, all ruby 1.9.x will have 1.9.1 in their paths – it is the intended behavior.

using rvm you can mount system installed rubies:

rvm automount

OR:

rvm mount /path/to/bin/ruby193 -n system193

but those system rubies might have some extra configuration that can make them not to work well with RVM, you might be better with just installing fresh ruby:

rvm get head
rvm requirements # make sure to read it
rvm use 1.9.3 --install

if you care for performance and value your time you an use falcon patch and compilation on more cores:

rvm install 1.9.3 --patch falcon -j 3
rvm use 1.9.3