Repurposing Go's Module System as a Universal Package Manager for Ruby Gems
By
SPBS
Toasted golden, schmeared with insight. Top of the rack.
Summary
A thought experiment exploring how Go's module system (go get) can be repurposed as a universal package manager for other languages like Ruby. By setting GOPATH to a Ruby load path, Go's module fetcher becomes a transport layer that can install Ruby gems. The article discusses how Go's module system accidentally created a content-addressed, transparency-logged package CDN that could be abused for any language, demonstrating the unintended flexibility of Go's package management infrastructure.
Key quotes
· 5 pulledHere's a thought experiment. What if Ruby had require "github.com/rails/rails" and you used go get to fetch it?
The Go team did not intend this. But it works.
Consider this a gift from the Ghost of Package Managers Yet to Come.
Ruby doesn't care how the files got there.
Go's module system accidentally created a universal, content-addressed, transparency-logged package CDN.
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