# RubyGems Hacker Approved page: https://hackerapproved.com/p/rubygems/ 5 people recommended RubyGems in Hacker News comments, 1 had mixed feelings and 8 criticized it, November 2025 to October 2026. It was recommended in 4 of 12 months, in 5 threads. It does not meet the Hacker Approved badge rule. **Verdict:** More people criticize it than recommend it. Main Ruby package registry, valued for being stable and easy to use, but critics object to Ruby Central's governance and a 100k download removal limit. Summary written by Claude from the comments below. ## What people warn about - 100k download removal limit (6 comments in the sample): "they went loco and added anti-people things such as taking away your ability to remove old gems past a 100k download arbitrary limit" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49701294)) "adding arbitrary 100.000 download limits (past that point you can no longer remove your project from rubygems.org" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49061043)) "RubyCentral had no authority over me or my projects, but still decided to add that pointless 100k download limit" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49061068)) - Corporate and hostile governance concerns (6 comments in the sample): "I stopped using rubygems.org myself after Marty pushed the ecosystem into shopify's corporate pet project." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47351243)) "I noticed this some time ago with regard to RubyCentral slapping down meta-corporate rules on rubygems.org" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46013548)) "on rubygems.org, before RubyCentral went shopify-controlled-only, that people would occupy namespaces" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45966268)) - Supply-chain security risks (2 comments in the sample): "you should also not trust pypi, rubygems, cargo and all the other programming language package managers." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46033193)) "I can just make an account and push whatever I want." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48357245)) ## Why people recommend it - Finding and using Ruby software (2 comments in the sample): "Personally, if I want to find software, I use Google, Rubygems, or NPM." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47953027)) "I use it quite a bit when I have to monkeypatch a gem" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45851424)) - Well maintained and unexciting (2 comments in the sample): "bundler and rubygems are being maintained ably, if not better, by hsbt" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49122640)) "compared to NPM, RubyGems is (lately) unexciting in the best way" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47820249)) - Team praised for handling issues (2 comments in the sample): "I've been impressed by how well he is doing with it." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49123212)) "Kudos to RubyGems team for handling it" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49667004)) ## Other package repositories people recommend - [Nixpkgs](https://hackerapproved.com/p/nixpkgs/): 33 recommend, 4 mixed, 21 criticize - [Arch User Repository](https://hackerapproved.com/p/arch-user-repository/): 24 recommend, 25 mixed, 85 criticize - [crates.io](https://hackerapproved.com/p/crates-io/): 14 recommend, 3 mixed, 18 criticize - [CPAN](https://hackerapproved.com/p/cpan/): 12 recommend, 0 mixed, 10 criticize ## The badge A product earns the Hacker Approved badge when at least 10 people recommend it, recommenders outnumber critics at least 2 to 1 (mixed feelings count toward neither side), it was recommended in at least 4 of the 12 months and in at least 5 different threads, and no single thread supplies more than half of the people who recommend it. Health and money products are never badged. ## Cite as Hacker Approved, "RubyGems", https://hackerapproved.com/p/rubygems/ (5 recommend, 1 mixed, 8 criticize; Hacker News comments, November 2025 to October 2026). Counts updated 2 Nov 2026, with data through October 31, 2026.