"enhance the Ruby language and/or provide additional software constructs" sounds like a really, really bad idea.
Every Ruby dev trying to re-invent the wheel is exactly why Ruby has the (poor) reputation that it has in some circles. > On Dec 26, 2014, at 8:47 PM, Matt Jones <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > On Friday, 26 December 2014 17:56:39 UTC-5, Matt Jones wrote: > > > On Sunday, 21 December 2014 15:55:26 UTC-5, Star Light wrote: > https://github.com/LouHenryAlvarez/jackbox > <https://github.com/LouHenryAlvarez/jackbox> > > If it's true. It sounds like some pretty wild stuff. Anyone care to comment > about this? > > Followup to my original comment: the Github page only has specs. Rubygems has > a gem, but it's got binary components without source and obfuscated source > (RubyEncoder). I certainly wouldn't load this code anyplace that wasn't > heavily sandboxed. I have no evidence that it's malicious, but have the same > amount that it *isn't*. > > There's some interesting ideas in there, but nothing interesting enough that > I'd want to bring un-debuggable, un-updatable mystery code in that also locks > me to MRI. > > The barrage of "announcement" posts across rails-talk, ruby, ruby-dev, and > ruby-core certainly haven't helped make a positive impression. > > > A final addon: the thing doesn't even WORK. Brand-new Ruby install on a > brand-new Vagrant VM: > > vagrant@precise32:~$ irb > irb(main):001:0> require 'jackbox' > TypeError: can't create instance of singleton class > from > /home/vagrant/.rbenv/versions/2.1.5/lib/ruby/gems/2.1.0/gems/jackbox-0.9.3.1/lib/jackbox.rb:188:in > `new' > from > /home/vagrant/.rbenv/versions/2.1.5/lib/ruby/gems/2.1.0/gems/jackbox-0.9.3.1/lib/jackbox.rb:188:in > `block (2 levels) in decorate' > from > /home/vagrant/.rbenv/versions/2.1.5/lib/ruby/gems/2.1.0/gems/jackbox-0.9.3.1/lib/jackbox.rb:51:in > `suppress_warnings' > from > /home/vagrant/.rbenv/versions/2.1.5/lib/ruby/gems/2.1.0/gems/jackbox-0.9.3.1/lib/jackbox.rb:179:in > `block in decorate' > from > /home/vagrant/.rbenv/versions/2.1.5/lib/ruby/gems/2.1.0/gems/jackbox-0.9.3.1/lib/jackbox.rb:208:in > `[]' > from > /home/vagrant/.rbenv/versions/2.1.5/lib/ruby/gems/2.1.0/gems/jackbox-0.9.3.1/lib/jackbox.rb:208:in > `decorate' > from > /home/vagrant/.rbenv/versions/2.1.5/lib/ruby/gems/2.1.0/gems/jackbox-0.9.3.1/lib/jackbox/examples/dir.rb:18:in > `block in <class:Dir>' > from > /home/vagrant/.rbenv/versions/2.1.5/lib/ruby/gems/2.1.0/gems/jackbox-0.9.3.1/lib/jackbox/examples/dir.rb:17:in > `class_eval' > from > /home/vagrant/.rbenv/versions/2.1.5/lib/ruby/gems/2.1.0/gems/jackbox-0.9.3.1/lib/jackbox/examples/dir.rb:17:in > `<class:Dir>' > from > /home/vagrant/.rbenv/versions/2.1.5/lib/ruby/gems/2.1.0/gems/jackbox-0.9.3.1/lib/jackbox/examples/dir.rb:15:in > `<top (required)>' > from > /home/vagrant/.rbenv/versions/2.1.5/lib/ruby/gems/2.1.0/gems/jackbox-0.9.3.1/lib/jackbox.rb:404:in > `require_relative' > from > /home/vagrant/.rbenv/versions/2.1.5/lib/ruby/gems/2.1.0/gems/jackbox-0.9.3.1/lib/jackbox.rb:404:in > `<encoded>' > from > /home/vagrant/.rbenv/versions/2.1.5/lib/ruby/gems/2.1.0/gems/jackbox-0.9.3.1/lib/jackbox.rb:2:in > `RGLoader_load' > from > /home/vagrant/.rbenv/versions/2.1.5/lib/ruby/gems/2.1.0/gems/jackbox-0.9.3.1/lib/jackbox.rb:2:in > `<top (required)>' > from > /home/vagrant/.rbenv/versions/2.1.5/lib/ruby/2.1.0/rubygems/core_ext/kernel_require.rb:135:in > `require' > from > /home/vagrant/.rbenv/versions/2.1.5/lib/ruby/2.1.0/rubygems/core_ext/kernel_require.rb:135:in > `rescue in require' > from > /home/vagrant/.rbenv/versions/2.1.5/lib/ruby/2.1.0/rubygems/core_ext/kernel_require.rb:144:in > `require' > from (irb):1 > from /home/vagrant/.rbenv/versions/2.1.5/bin/irb:11:in `<main>' > --------------------------------------- > System info: > > vagrant@precise32:~$ ruby -v > ruby 2.1.5p273 (2014-11-13 revision 48405) [i686-linux] > > vagrant@precise32:~$ lsb_release -a > No LSB modules are available. > Distributor ID: Ubuntu > Description: Ubuntu 12.04 LTS > Release: 12.04 > Codename: precise > ------------------------------------- > > I'd add that EVEN IF THIS WORKED, it would be terrible - it's loading the > file from lib/jackbox/examples/dir.rb, which redefines - ahem, "decorates" - > methods of the stdlib Dir class to have entirely different semantics. For > instance, `Dir.new(some_path)` now writes to the filesystem... > > Some of the rest, on further examination, feels like over-abstraction / > sugaring. For instance, here's how `lets` is implemented: > > def lets(sym = nil, &block) > if sym.class == Symbol > define_method(sym, &block) > else > sym ? sym : block > end > rescue StandardError > raise LetsError > end > > (BTW: RubyEncoder just makes this harder, not impossible. Not even > particularly difficult, once you get used to reading YARV bytecode. > RubyVM::InstructionSequence.disasm FTW!) > > Digging into this, the first example for `lets` is USELESS. `lets bar > =->(arg){ arg * arg }` is actually parsed as `lets(bar = ->(arg){ arg * arg > })`. This works, but `lets` does exactly fuckall since the actual > local-variable-setting part is a side-effect of its argument. > > Other fun things, in no particular order: > > * attempting an install on Ruby 1.9.3 fails, since the gem was built > expecting `byebug` to be available but that gem requires Ruby 2.0.0. The > gemspec appears to be *attempting* to deal with this by including a > conditional on RUBY_VERSION, but that code runs at gem-build time, not > gem-load time. :( > > * `with` appears to work by decorating `method_missing`, using > `instance_exec` on the target, and then undecorating. Bonus points if you > wondered what happens if the block exits the scope abnormally (via `raise` or > `throw`). > > * the directory example reimplements Dir.exists? to do exactly the same thing > as the Ruby version, only in Ruby instead of C. This is unlikely to be a > performance issue, but it makes one wonder why it was included at all. > > * disassembly of the included libraries shows additional oddities - there are > two Mach-O format libs (ext/jackbox/jackbox.so and > ext/jackbox/jackbox.bundle) and a DLL, but no corresponding library for > Linux. The OS X libraries also don't appear to DO anything - just FFI stubs > and utility functions. > > * I'll leave the detailed object-oriented theory criticisms to somebody who's > passionate about it, but some of the examples seem like classic is-a / has-a > reversals to my eye. A Spaceship isn't a fuel line, or a capsule - it HAS > those things. Mixins seem like the exactly wrong choice for that case. > > * there's a namespace whose purpose I'm still unclear on under > Jackbox::Meta::Abstract and Jackbox::Meta::DSL. Neither of the latter have > (at first inspection) any methods of interest. > > * needless to say, thanks to the RubyEncoder non-security garbage, the gem > doesn't even WORK on 2.2.0. > > LHA, if you're reading this, you've got some interesting ideas. You need to > work on packaging and presentation, though - shipping useless binary > extensions and obfuscated source isn't going to endear you to many people. It > would be a great deal easier to discuss these ideas without having to trawl > through YARV disassembly. > > --Matt Jones > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Ruby on Rails: Talk" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected] > <mailto:[email protected]>. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected] > <mailto:[email protected]>. > To view this discussion on the web visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rubyonrails-talk/f9156a84-6a9a-4d96-8d68-3e2628ea6373%40googlegroups.com > > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rubyonrails-talk/f9156a84-6a9a-4d96-8d68-3e2628ea6373%40googlegroups.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer>. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout > <https://groups.google.com/d/optout>. ---- Jason Fleetwood-Boldt [email protected] http://www.jasonfleetwoodboldt.com/writing All material © Jason Fleetwood-Boldt 2014. Public conversations may be turned into blog posts (original poster information will be made anonymous). Email [email protected] with questions/concerns about this. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Ruby on Rails: Talk" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rubyonrails-talk/98C65DFE-E645-427D-93D2-7C85E3DCC301%40datatravels.com. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
