Before RubyGems... there was...
Setup.rb
$ tar -xvzf helloworld-1.0.0.tgz
$ cd helloworld-1.0.0.tgz
$ sudo setup.rb all
Setup.rb is the generic installer for ruby scripts and extentions.
You can automate configuration and installation of your program package
very easily with setup.rb simply by following a convention. And if
you need more control, setup.rb also offers all the configuration you'll
ever need.