Cannot install github-linguist on Mac OS 15.3 when using rbenv and [email protected]

[joe307bad]

I have read the section in the README that suggests using a Ruby version manager on Mac OS. So I installed rbenv via Homebrew and I also installed the dependencies using this command:

brew install cmake pkg-config icu4c

But after using rbenv and installing the dependencies and switching back and forth from Ruby 3.4.1 and 3.4.2 using rbenv, I still get the error listed below.

Here is my system info

Apple M3 Pro
Mac OS 15.3 (24D60)

Describe the bug

I am trying to install github-linguist and I am getting an error when running gem install github-linguist

joebad@Mac ~ % sudo gem install github-linguist
Password:
Building native extensions. This could take a while...
ERROR:  Error installing github-linguist:
        ERROR: Failed to build gem native extension.

    current directory: /Library/Ruby/Gems/2.6.0/gems/charlock_holmes-0.7.9/ext/charlock_holmes
/System/Library/Frameworks/Ruby.framework/Versions/2.6/usr/bin/ruby -I /System/Library/Frameworks/Ruby.framework/Versions/2.6/usr/lib/ruby/2.6.0 -r ./siteconf20250317-43518-hnpadw.rb extconf.rb
checking for -licui18n... yes
checking for unicode/ucnv.h... yes
checking for -lz... yes
checking for -licuuc... yes
checking for -licudata... yes
checking for icu that requires explicit C++ version flag... yes
checking for icu that compiles with c++20 standard... no
checking for icu that compiles with c++17 standard... no
checking for icu that compiles with c++11 standard... no
checking for icu that compiles with c++0x standard... no
Cannot compile icu with your compiler: recent versions require C++17 support.
*** extconf.rb failed ***
Could not create Makefile due to some reason, probably lack of necessary
libraries and/or headers.  Check the mkmf.log file for more details.  You may
need configuration options.

Provided configuration options:
        --with-opt-dir
        --without-opt-dir
        --with-opt-include
        --without-opt-include=${opt-dir}/include
        --with-opt-lib
        --without-opt-lib=${opt-dir}/lib
        --with-make-prog
        --without-make-prog
        --srcdir=.
        --curdir
        --ruby=/System/Library/Frameworks/Ruby.framework/Versions/2.6/usr/bin/$(RUBY_BASE_NAME)
        --with-icu-dir
        --without-icu-dir
        --with-icu-include
        --without-icu-include=${icu-dir}/include
        --with-icu-lib
        --without-icu-lib=${icu-dir}/lib
        --with-icu-i18n-config
        --without-icu-i18n-config
        --with-pkg-config
        --without-pkg-config
        --with-icu-io-config
        --without-icu-io-config
        --with-icu-uc-config
        --without-icu-uc-config
        --with-icui18nlib
        --without-icui18nlib
        --with-zlib
        --without-zlib
        --with-icuuclib
        --without-icuuclib
        --with-icudatalib
        --without-icudatalib

To see why this extension failed to compile, please check the mkmf.log which can be found here:

  /Library/Ruby/Gems/2.6.0/extensions/universal-darwin-24/2.6.0/charlock_holmes-0.7.9/mkmf.log

extconf failed, exit code 1

Gem files will remain installed in /Library/Ruby/Gems/2.6.0/gems/charlock_holmes-0.7.9 for inspection.
Results logged to /Library/Ruby/Gems/2.6.0/extensions/universal-darwin-24/2.6.0/charlock_holmes-0.7.9/gem_make.out

Expected behaviour

Installing and using github-linguist

[lildude]

sudo gem install github-linguist

There's your problem... sudo. You don't want to do this as you will be effectively running as root and not your user so will not be getting your rbenv Ruby.

You can see your attempt to install is against the system Ruby here:

    current directory: /Library/Ruby/Gems/2.6.0/gems/charlock_holmes-0.7.9/ext/charlock_holmes
/System/Library/Frameworks/Ruby.framework/Versions/2.6/usr/bin/ruby -I /System/Library/Frameworks/Ruby.framework/Versions/2.6/usr/lib/ruby/2.6.0 -r ./siteconf20250317-43518-hnpadw.rb extconf.rb

Ruby 2.6.0 is the system Ruby and not the one you installed with rbenv.

Assuming you've configured rbenv correctly, dropping sudo should do the trick.

[joe307bad]

Damn thanks a ton! That did the trick. More detailed from Claude:

# Install rbenv with Homebrew
brew install rbenv ruby-build

# Initialize rbenv
rbenv init

# Add to your shell profile (.zshrc or .bash_profile)
eval "$(rbenv init -)"

# Install a Ruby version
rbenv install 3.2.2
rbenv global 3.2.2

# Now install the gem
gem install github-linguist

[xmicro]

Um... I have the exact same error as OP. However, if I run it without sudo, I get a separate error:
ERROR: While executing gem ... (Errno::EACCES)
Permission denied @ rb_sysopen - /Library/Ruby/Gems/2.6.0/gems/charlock_holmes-0.7.9/ext/charlock_holmes/common.h