asiel’s scratchpad

After trying to get the mysql gem working on my new macbook in Leopard, I realized that although I can get the gem to compile correctly it still doesn’t work with the mysql 64-bit version. This realization mostly came from searching and finding this useful blog post.

I reinstalled the 32 bit version of mysql and then recompiled the mysql gem. Then magically things started working the way I needed them to. Hopefully this can get fixed in a future version of Ruby.

Here is the command I had to use to finally install the gem properly.


sudo env ARCHFLAGS="-arch i386" gem install mysql -- --with-mysql-config=/usr/local/mysql/bin/mysql_config --with-mysql-lib=/usr/local/mysql/lib --with-mysql-dir=/usr/local/mysql --with-mysql-include=/usr/local/mysql/include


Notice the i386 arch. I was previously using x86_64 as the arch which compiled properly and appeared to work until you actually tried to use the gem in ruby and got a stack trace.

I have had a macbook pro for about 2.5 years now since the first intel based macs were introduced. Last week I decided to get a faster machine with more ram and hard drive space. So I went to a macbook. Yes, I have a smaller screen and not quite as good of video. However, I was able to upgrade the RAM to 4GB and HD to 320GB in about 15min and both are working great. I’ve been very happy with the machine so far.

Tonight I decided to try out the Migration Assistant. For some unknown reason I’ve never used it in the past when I’ve upgraded my mac. After using it though, all I can say is wow! Why haven’t I used this tool before? What is so amazing to me in contrast to Windows machines is how well it works and how easy it is to use. Also as far as I can tell so far it appears to have transfered everything just the way I told it to. This includes all my files, custom settings, and even applications. Although it technically should be possible to transfer appliations between Windows machines, in most cases it isn’t even an option. Whenever I have moved from one Windows machine to another I end up having to reinstall all the applications. The only thing that really moves well on Windows is files such as documents and other application data. The applications themselves though don’t like to be moved.

With Migration Assistant, the fact that applications can be moved is huge for me since reinstalling all my applications usually takes at least an entire day if not more. Whats more, its really something that isn’t fun and frankly shouldn’t be necessary to redo every time I move to a new computer.

So far I’m completely sold on Migration Assistant. It has definitely made this the least painful upgrade I’ve ever experienced. I’ll have to see if I’m still as impressed after making sure everything really does work over the next week or two.

People like to have heated discussions about which operating system is better than another. This joke explains it very well. Just don’t forget that you are arguing about an operating system and competition is always good. Just don’t forget to tell someone else why your operating system is better than theirs.

I wanted to try out Microsoft’s Flip4Mac which looked like it would be pretty neat. see it here
Unfortunately it isn’t a universal build so it doesn’t work on intel macs. Why is this? Everything released for mac should be universal at this point. Hopefully this will get fixed soon and people will start seeing the light.