Redcloth breaks ruby load_path

[Paul R]

In Hardy, RedCloth installs redcloth.rb in /usr/lib/ruby/1.8/
First line of redcloth.rb is : $:.unshift(File.dirname(__FILE__))
This means /usr/lib/ruby/1.8 is placed ON TOP of the ruby load_path.
In other words, when redcloth has been loaded, you can NEVER EVER load a file named "foo" if /usr/lib/ruby/1.8/foo already exists.

This prevents you from :
 * using a more recent library in your application directory
 * upgrading through gems or through plugins
 * many other common things.

Please take a closer look at the way redcloth is distributed. As a quick-fix, you can maybe first check that this path is not already in load-path before pushing it on top. Or, you can bet redcloth.rb would not have been found at all if it was not already in the path, and just drop this addition.
In present form, it makes RedCloth package totally useless.

Thanks for your effort,

Regards

--
  Paul