What does "No binary rubies available" mean?

Question

Whenever I use rvm install x.x.x, I get this warning even in successful installation:

No binary rubies available for: osx/10.12/x86_64/ruby-2.4.0.
Continuing with compilation. Please read 'rvm help mount' to get more
information on binary rubies.

I tried to read rvm help mount, but it was beyond the scope of my knowledge.

Can someone explain this warning in simple English? Thanks!

Answer 1

When installing new Rubies, RVM first tries to use a pre-compiled version it downloads from https://rvm_io.global.ssl.fastly.net/binaries/. This significantly speeds up the installation of Rubies.

Only if RVM doesn't find a matching version (or you have specified additional compile options), RVM downlaods the source code of the respective version of Ruby and compiles it on your computer.

The message you got there just informs you that RVM couldn't find a precompiled version of your desired Ruby for your operating system and that RVM will compile it from source. This is not an error. The resulting Ruby will work exactly the same as if it would have been downloaded in precompiled form. It just takes a bit longer to install.