Tar2RubyScript transforms a directory tree, containing your application, into one single Ruby script, along with some code to handle this archive. Tar2RubyScript can be distributed to our friends. When they've installed Ruby, they just have to double click on it and your application is up and running!
So, it's a way of executing your application, not of installing it. You might think of it as the Ruby version of Java's JAR... Let's call it an RBA (Ruby Archive).
"It's Ruby's JAR..."
Like packing related application files into one RBA application, you could as well pack related library files into one RBA library. Now you don't need to install the compound library in the traditional way before using it. Just require the RBA.
Because the RBA is pure Ruby and no other programs or libraries are needed, it's easy to distribute it to friends. They don't have to install anything but Ruby itself.
Unlike the JAR-people, we don't need a new extension for RBA's. A JAR isn't a Java Class, it contains a Java class; an RBA both is and contains a Ruby script. It's also easier to change the format of an RBA in the future, because the algorithm to handle the RBA comes with it at a cost in bytes of less then 10K.
Another difference between the two is the entry point: JAR does something with a manifest; RBA just loads init.rb . And, well, they compress, we don't.
If you like Tar2RubyScript, you might want to read Distributing Ruby Applications. It's about how I build, pack and distribute my Ruby applications. Theory and practice.
What's New in This Release:
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