Ruby on Rails 2.2.2

Posted on | April 27, 2009 | No Comments

Now we’re going to get all geeky on you.  So we use Linux, MySQL, and Ruby on Rails to power Crowd Rent.  One reason we took this route was cost, these are free software packages.  They’re free in two ways, as Slashdot would say speech and beer.  They’re free in that the don’t cost a dime.  I can download them, install, and run them anywhere I want.  No licenses, no maintenance agreements, nothing.  They’re also free in that I can go in and modify them to suite my needs.  Now make no mistake about it, I don’t modify them.  These are written by people much smarter than me, I would never be able to improve them, I leave that to the professionals.

Well one of the drawbacks to open source software is it’s not always easy to use.  There is no one to call to hold your hand and walk you through something.  Recently we upgraded the code running Crowd Rent from Rails 2.1.2 to Rails 2.2.2.  It wasn’t too bad but it took longer than it should because of little quirks in the frameworks.  Once it was all tested and working, we rolled it out and it’s been working like a champ ever since.  Additionally, we made it much easier to register.  We want to get people in and let them explore.  Instead of hitting you with a ton of questions up front we let you get in and get going and you can answer the questions when you have time.  Give it a shot and let us know what you think.

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