Allow requiring of global gems from outside of the Gemfile

unbundled_require.rb

# Include this in your .irbrc
def unbundled_require(gem)
  if defined?(::Bundler)
    spec_path = Dir.glob("#{Gem.dir}/specifications/#{gem}-*.gemspec").last
    if spec_path.nil?
      warn "Couldn't find #{gem}"
      return
    end

    spec = Gem::Specification.load spec_path
    spec.activate
  end

  begin
    require gem
    yield if block_given?
  rescue Exception => err
    warn "Couldn't load #{gem}: #{err}"
  end
end

# Then use like this
unbundled_require 'wirb' do
  Wirb.start
end

Nice! Works for me for now =)

NoMethodError: undefined method `activate' for #Gem::Specification:0x1334b3bb8

@danielribeiro - Which gem are you trying to load? Which version of ruby are you using?

On both Ree and Ruby 1.8.7 with Bundler version 1.0.21. I get this with all gems, in particular with wirble. The os is mac Lion (Mac OS X Lion 10.7.4 (11E53))

Ah ok. I've well and truly given up on 1.8, so this will probably only work on 1.9. But let me know if you get it working!

I added a fix à la the Gemfile for requiring a gem with a different name than the gem itself: https://gist.github.com/3894925