Advice on HTTPS connections using Ruby on Rails

Question

Since I am developing a "secure" OAuth protocol for my RoR3 apps, I need to send protected information over the internet, so I need to use HTTPS connections (SSL/TSL). I read How to Cure Net::HTTP's Risky Default HTTPS Behavior aticle that mentions the ' always_verify_ssl_certificates ' gem, but, since I want to be more "pure" (it means: I do not want to install other gems, but I try to do everything with Ruby on Rails) as possible, I want to do that work without installing new gems.

I read about 'open_uri' (it is also mentioned in the linked article : "open_uri is a common exception - it gets things right!") that is from the Ruby OOPL and I think it can do the same work.

So, for my needs, is 'open_uri' the best choice (although it is more complicated of 'always_verify_ssl_certificates' gem)? If so, can someone help me using that (with an example, if possible) because I have not found good guides about?

Answer 1

You should find the best tool for the job and use it. You should not try to limit your usage of libraries to just Rails and the Ruby standard library, because these two alone will not always provide you with everything you need. As you have indicated, you found the right tool for the job - don't reject it just because it's not part of "official" Ruby or Rails.

You can easily manage which gems your application needs with Bundler , such that everyone on the team is, with a single command, always able to install and run the application, including automatically installing all gem dependencies. Rails 3, by default, integrates with Bundler and expects that you will use Bundler to manage all your gem dependencies.