The programming language Ruby
It's recommended to use RVM for this, since it allows you to keep different versions solely next to each other.
$ curl -L https://get.rvm.io | bash -s stable # download rvm directly $ source ~/.rvm/scripts/rvm >> .bashrc # close and open all terminals after it $ rvm help $ rvm notes $ rvm autolibs enable $ rvm requirements $ rvm install 1.9.3 $ rvm install 2.0.0
What happens here? Note, that you run EVERY command as non-root, i.e. "normal" user!
First, we load the recent stable rvm (aside the package management) from the website and install it. Second, we add a line to our .bashrc to enable rvm commands when launching a terminal. Thus we have to close and reopen all open terminal windows. Now you can read the help pages and notes (it's recommended to do so) and enable rvm autolibs to automatically care for dependencies when installing ruby versions. Usually rvm requirements lists missing applications, but at least for me there were some missing:
# equo install Locale-gettext automake gcc
Now you can easily install any Ruby version you like:
$ rvm install 1.9.3 $ rvm install 2.0.0 $ rvm list
How to specify a ruby version
That's pretty easy:
$ rvm use 1.9.3 $ ruby -v $ rvm use 2.0.0 $ ruby -v
To mark a version as default, simply run:
$ rvm --default 1.9.3
Now it is marked as default in "rvm list".
I forgot a rvm command
Don't worry, simply type
$ rvm help
Where to start
There is plenty of documentation out there.