---
title: This week in open source
teaser:
tags: news,open source
author: Mike Burns
published_on: 2011-12-09
---

Few commits over the past week. We've been hard at work on refactorings and larger features (plus client work), so keep your eyes peeled for the amazing commits we pull from you (yes, you!) in coming weeks.

## suspenders

Commits on [suspenders](https://github.com/thoughtbot/suspenders) this week bring us instructions on how to use the app with Heroku ([257ea39](http://github.com/thoughtbot/suspenders/commit/257ea39e50bb22e8a90410fac1c908aad0ed4893 "heroku integration tests intended to test that staging and production heroku apps created") and [5a4c257](http://github.com/thoughtbot/suspenders/commit/5a4c2579c4db08bd2f51ae7144de942d02643720 "include some helpful Heroku instructions to README for suspended Heroku apps")), revised documentation "that is awesome, not terrible" ([c5ba370](http://github.com/thoughtbot/suspenders/commit/c5ba37098a424ca189b8597904dbdd3cdd756f43 "the README that gets generated with the app should be awesome, not terrible.")), and a bug fix on Heroku: specifying the environment can sometimes raise an error ([b45e57f](http://github.com/thoughtbot/suspenders/commit/b45e57f4251ade9490cb5ab1c55c40a434e01547 "Removing -e flag in Procfile as it is raising an error "))—all thanks to our Dan Croak ([croaky](http://github.com/croaky)). Brooke McKim ([brookemckim](http://github.com/brookemckim)) updated the docs to reflect that Hoptoad is now named Airbrake ([8b5216e](http://github.com/thoughtbot/suspenders/commit/8b5216ed36418a103b6d4ff0fa4b3975e00a9366 "Airbrake formerly hoptoad. ")).

## paperclip

A tiny but important change to [paperclip](https://github.com/thoughtbot/paperclip) this week from Abel Martin ([abelmartin](http://github.com/abelmartin)): he documented how to use the Paperclip test helpers from `Test::Unit` ([9d7b0dc](http://github.com/thoughtbot/paperclip/commit/9d7b0dcc9d158fbbf9d7644243f67544ca324373 "updated the Test::Unit heading to "), [e8d5331](http://github.com/thoughtbot/paperclip/commit/e8d53313d87c2c23fe490fce7d762deb48692d69 "Updated documentation for Test::Unit"), and [5f3b88d](http://github.com/thoughtbot/paperclip/commit/5f3b88d19e223abfeec5278a79232a856cfefa67 "removed extra space between ")).

## factory_bot[^1]

For the first week ever [factory_bot](https://github.com/thoughtbot/factory_bot) saw one tiny refactoring and no new features. Joshua "The Refactorer" Clayton ([joshuaclayton](http://github.com/joshuaclayton)) cleaned up the stub proxy—the build stategy that is invoked when you use `FactoryBot.build_stubbed`—by completely removing the constructor and delaying the actual construction of the stub object ([8ce897f](http://github.com/thoughtbot/factory_bot/commit/8ce897f592c9ed3c71bae41a973ed2a2b7b3a731 "Move database interaction stubbing on the result to the result call")). This is part of a larger refactoring he is doing.

## capybara-webkit

Some peace and quiet on [capybara-webkit](https://github.com/thoughtbot/capybara-webkit) this week, when Joe Ferris ([jferris](http://github.com/jferris)) removed some stray print-debugging and general Ruby whining ([5adab74](http://github.com/thoughtbot/capybara-webkit/commit/5adab74465f42efcf286f0f94ed5a5d1a04ce6cd "Fixed for 1.8; removed debugging message")).

## dotfiles

Dan Croak ([croaky](http://github.com/croaky)) dedicated some time to our [dotfiles](https://github.com/thoughtbot/dotfiles) over the week, improving documentation on how to use and upgrade it ([87685f1](http://github.com/thoughtbot/dotfiles/commit/87685f1fbf60fc71552503637754ee1e938dd132 "improve documentation to make suggestions about where to put your own customizations") and [326ceb4](http://github.com/thoughtbot/dotfiles/commit/326ceb44e42e72949b667dceaeb87212019520da "Working hard to make the README instructions extremely clear for newcomers and workshop students.")), organizing and adding shell aliases for working with Heroku ([352dcad](http://github.com/thoughtbot/dotfiles/commit/352dcade9920898f30b875f9332bcca06bac618f "don"), [6458ae7](http://github.com/thoughtbot/dotfiles/commit/6458ae701599a28124da9e4583a5430733fd43bf "one more db backup command alias"), and [cbea59b](http://github.com/thoughtbot/dotfiles/commit/cbea59babc4d129b34982084e90e23ad28caab4c "organized aliases by category (Unix, git, Bundler, Rubygems, Rails, Heroku). added some intense Heroku aliases for introspecting on your app and also interacting with your database")), and deciding that the GitHub color scheme is better than the vividchalk color scheme in vim ([de071e9](http://github.com/thoughtbot/dotfiles/commit/de071e9c34db3fdbddcc4c330d5e10f0f6cfd048 "switch to github vim color scheme")).

[^1]: Looking for FactoryGirl? The library was renamed in 2017.
[Project name history can be found here.](https://github.com/thoughtbot/factory_bot/blob/master/NAME.md)