Streamlined installation

[DannyBen]

Hello, and thanks for this implementation.

Are there any plans to make the installation process more standard and streamlined?

I imagine the sqlite3 gem is a good baseline example, with it I just need to ensure I have the sqlite3 OS package (apt install sqlite / apk add sqlite3) and then just do a regular gem install sqlite3.

Manually downloading external C++ header files, placing them in a particular location, and messing around with ldconfig is not ideal...

[suketa]

@DannyBen
Sorry, but I'm not a duckdb creator nor OS packages maintainer. I don't have any plans about it.
You should ask duckdb creator or OS packages maintainer.

I hope OS package maintainer or duckdb creator will provide duckdb package in near future. (lib-duckdb-dev, etc)

[sandstrom]

Just to chime in here. I think it would be possible to compile duckdb at gem install time, similar to sqlite. This file is the entrypoint to their install.

https://github.com/sparklemotion/sqlite3-ruby/blob/master/ext/sqlite3/extconf.rb

All that said, I would not prioritize easy install at this point. DuckDB is still early in itself, would at least wait until it's 1.0, to avoid breaking changes in the install flow.

Second, I this ruby binding is still fairly early days too, I think time is much better spent on functionality. If enough people start using this gem, eventually someone will contribute an upgraded install process. Also, such a simplified flow would require a more advanced test setup, where Github Actions would run compile tests on different architecture and for different versions of DuckDB. A lot of work to setup, not worth it at this point.

Lastly, thanks for an awesome gem! 🏅 Discovered it recently, haven't tried yet, but I will soon!

[sandstrom]

@suketa Thanks for a great gem!

Would you be open to some sponsorship for making more improvements to this gem? For example $200 a month for 6 months, as a starter.

Overall I think this gem is in a fairly good state, but there may be a few areas where it can get even better. You probably have some ideas on your own, and if you are open to sponsorship, I can also share some ideas to hear our thoughts about it.

[suketa]

@sandstrom
Thank you for your suggestion. I started github sponsors. I can't promise anything and I don't have enough time to improve this gem. But I will keep maintain this gem and make more improvements to this gem.

[sandstrom]

@suketa Sounds great!

I've added $100 sponsorship. Obviously I realize you have job and other things to do, but hopefully this can help a bit towards maintaining and improving this gem.

Two small ideas:

• Disable the 'projects' tab if it isn't used
• Enable the discussions tab, to get fewer questions under issues

[suketa]

related issue #561, duckdb/duckdb#9475

[sandstrom]

@suketa Just wanted to let you know we've increased the sponsorship to $150 a month.

Also, just a small suggestion.

I'd disable the 'projects' tab if it isn't used, and enable the discussions tab (to get fewer questions under issues).

[sandstrom]

As background, we've had some issues with managing the DuckDB version outside. And I reviewed a few other gems, such as nokogiri, and some of those depending on external code will bundle it.

So I wanted to present a potential approach that I think would work pretty nice, to make the installation experience more streamlined. It would also avoid collision with other versions on the machine. For example, say I'm using an old version of duckdb in one project, and a new version in another.

High-level suggestion

This is just a rough high-level idea, but what do you think about something like this:

The gem will downloading DuckDB files and managing them within the gem's directory (basically downloading these with SHA pinning https://github.com/duckdb/duckdb/releases/tag/v1.5.1).

If an option is passed, it's still an option to use preinstalled (see e.g. how Nokogiri does it, https://nokogiri.org/tutorials/installing_nokogiri.html#installing-using-standard-system-libraries).

Version alignment sub-question

If we do this, it might also make sense to lock/align the duckdb gem version with duckdb itself (I think it may actually already be aligned?). But the alignment part isn't hard requirement for this to work, we could also just inform what version is bundled.

---

Let me know what you think! 😄

If you think this is good, the next step would be to write up a more detailed plan of what this would look like, and then get your feedback on it.

[suketa]

I’m considering the following options, but not decided yet.

1. The gem will download DuckDB files and managing them within the gem's directory (as you said)
2. The gem will bundled DuckDB runtime files and installed them within the gem's directory (not download files.)
3. ruby-duckdb is static linked with DuckDB libraries. This is sqlite3 gem approach and recommended way by DuckDB.

And, if you specified option, you can still install in the same current way (you can use system/pre-installed with DuckDB files)

[sandstrom]

Bundling them within the gem to avoid downloads sounds compelling. Assuming the gem size wouldn't get "too large"?

I think somewhere in the 5-10mb range would still be reasonable, but if it's 100mb maybe it's a bit too large.

What do you think about version alignment between DuckDB and the duckdb gem? Good idea? Bad?

[suketa]

Assuming the gem size wouldn't get "too large"?

I've not investigated it yet.

What do you think about version alignment between DuckDB and the duckdb gem? Good idea? Bad?

ruby-duckdb version is aligned to DuckDB, version but it is not same.

ruby-duckdb 1.6.0.x will support DuckDB 1.6.x (and will support DuckDB 1.4.x too, maybe DuckDB 1.5.x (?))
ruby-duckdb 1.5.1.x supports DuckDB 1.5.1. (and supports DuckDB 1.4.x too.)
ruby-duckdb 1.5.0.x supports DuckDB 1.5.0. (and supports DuckDB 1.4.x too.)

[sandstrom]

Got it, makes sense!

Sorry for having so many ideas -- feel free to ignore everything of course! 😄

But maybe the readme should document support policy, for example:

# Versioning and DuckDB support

The version for this gem corresponds to the most recent supported version
of DuckDB. For example, version `1.5.1` of this gem will support DuckDB 1.5.1.

Further, we strive to support `Version - 1`, so that `1.5.1` of this gem will also
support the `1.4.x` series of DuckDB.

In case we need to add gem-only patches, those will be the fourth digit, so something like
`1.3.0.1` of this gem would be matched with DuckDB `1.3.0` but contain some additional adjustment only related to the gem.

This gem aims to support most minor releases of DuckDB, but sometimes we may "skip" a minor,
in case DuckDB is releasing them with a quick cadence.

(just a suggestion, feel free to edit or just ignore)