So I wanted to make a simple desktop app in Ruby — just a GitHub stats fetcher. You know, input a username, get their avatar, followers, repos… easy stuff.
Except it wasn’t that easy.
What’s up with Ruby GUI gems?
Tk: basically dead on modern Ruby
Shoes: fun idea, totally abandoned … Even the website seems to be crazy when downloading the executable
Scarpe / FXRuby / Qt: either unstable, heavy, or impossible to set up
What worked
I ended up using GTK3. It works. Cross-platform …and was easy to setup…
What I learned…
Ruby is amazing for scripting, APIs, automation — but GUI support is neglected.
Always check if a gem is maintained before committing time.
Community contributions matter — a little patch here or a fork there can keep gems alive.
Why it matters
If you’re a Ruby dev, or learning Ruby, don’t get discouraged. The tools are messy, but the language is still a joy. And if enough people care …maybe the GUI ecosystem can come back alive.
Nonetheless, GTK3 works. Other gems mostly don’t. But hacking through it is part of the fun
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