The Irish Penguin

Here’s the problem…

me@host:~$ sudo gem update
/usr/bin/gem:23: uninitialized constant Gem::GemRunner (NameError)

… which had us on the ropes more than on the rails for a while. Unusually googl’ing on this error provided no solutions.

What led to the situation was that we used the source install of rubygems on Ubuntu Gutsy (7.10) instead of using the rubygems in Ubuntu’s repository but then changed our mind and apt-getted the Ubuntu repository version. Surprise! Surprise! These 2 versions were conflicting a bit; leading to the above error. The workaround is pretty simple, just go to your /usr/local/lib section and delete the site_ruby directory (as this is the remnant of the rubygems source install and thus cause of the problem). This removes all the gems (that were downloaded by the original rubygems which we no longer want) off our system. Perhaps you want to simply move this directory first in case something goes wrong and you need to revert (eg. sudo mv /usr/local/lib/site_ruby /usr_local/lib/site_ruby_old).

Note: In case your not aware, /usr/local/* is the set of directories under which programs that you compile yourself get installed to by default. Generally the directories will start out pretty empty on a freshly installed Linux distro and then as you (if ever!) compile and install programs from source (eg. using ./configure && make && make install) then they end up under this directory. Also not that programs installed using apt-get (or via rpms on non-Debian systems) don’t get put here - they usually end up under the /usr/ directory itself (this varies a bit from distro to distro but what we’ve just outlined holds true for Ubuntu anyway).

Now, once your finished you should find that gem works. Do a ‘gem list’ and see if the above error is gone. If this doesn’t work you may need to ’sudo apt-get install rubygems’. Next up, we need to rebuild that gem directory that we deleted (site_ruby) with the apt-gotten rubygems (if apt-gotten is a real word!). To do this run

’sudo gem update’
’sudo gem update –system’

You will notice that the result of these commands means that /usr/local/lib/site_ruby is back and populated. This is where ruby likes to put it’s gem extensions. Finally reinstall rails with

’sudo gem install rails’

Hope this solution works for you! We’re still getting to grips with this rails stuff so if you find any glaring errors in this post please comment below to let us know.

After initially being a little disappointed with Kubuntu’s default theme, The Irish Penguin new he’d have to roll his own.

Well, finally it’s been tweaked to penguin perfection and, amidst much wing flapping, uploaded as a KDE theme for everyone to enjoy. However, before it’s unleashed upon you, please be aware of a little gotcha. The KDE Theme Manager is the tool you’ll need to install/create your own themes. However it’s not to be found in ‘System Settings’ on the K-menu. Rather you must go to the command line (unless I am missing the menu icon with my dodgy eyes!) and type ‘kcontrol’. From here you navigate to ‘Appearances & Themes’ and then ‘Theme Manager’. Ok, now armed with this knowledge here’s what to do.

Save the Castle at Night zipped theme file to your ‘/home/yourusername/.kde/share/apps/kthememanager/themes/’ directory. Then unzip it and, via the KDE Theme Manager, install this file and, hey presto(!), you’re looking good.

(Click to view)

Note: If you are having trouble with installing this theme you can download, unzip and install some additional files (Castle at Night - Required Files) into your  /home/yourusername/.kde/share/apps/kthememanager/themes/’ folder.

To fully enjoy the theme you should right-click on the quicklauncher at left of the taskbar and configure it to have a fine big icon size - 28 looked good on the Inspiron (I think big icons always look nice in KDE’s taskbar).

Note: It’s been created on a Dell Inspiron 1520 laptop (running Kubuntu 7.10 ‘Gutsy’) so perhaps the colours might look at little different depending on your machine. Now hopefully one day we’ll all have gamma correction that works. Until then, enjoy!

It’s coming up to Christmas and it’s the time to be merry - especially if you are a certain thief, who has made off with 450 kegs of festive beer, including 180 kegs of the black stuff, from Ireland’s premier brewery! [source: Times Online] St James’s Gate, home of the famous pint that is Guiness, was the scene of the crime as the assailant drove off (staggered???) in a trailer drawing vehicle; the most exciting heist since The Cattle Raid of Cooley. Interesting it has come admist a police blitz in the nation’s capital - 160 police on the beat in the Xmas run-up. You’d think someone would have noticed the equivalent of half a mega-pint.

Only one person is believed to have been involved in the incident; who’s now shot to fame with the infamous title “The Beer Hunter”. Their whereabouts is currently unknown as a ‘thirsty-man hunt’ sweeps the nation. One thing is clear however, the sought-after thief does not have much respect for his/her taste buds - making off with an additional 180 kegs of Budweiser (which in Ireland tastes like a cross between a dog’s urine, and well… another dog’s urine - mostly drank by people who hate the taste of beer¹) and 90 kegs of Carlsberg. All in all, the liquid loot was worth in the region of 65000 euro. Quote of the day goes to Grainne Mackin, spokesperson for Guinness’ owner Diageo Ireland, who said “What could they possibly want with all that beer?” Hmm… Have a very merry Christmas perhaps?

¹ In your correspondent’s humble opinion