Add user-install option so that you don't need to have root access to use isolate with gems with C extensions. --- lib/isolate/entry.rb.orig Mon Nov 14 19:51:12 2011 +++ lib/isolate/entry.rb Mon Nov 14 19:52:10 2011 @@ -67,9 +67,7 @@ module Isolate def activate fire :activating, :activated do - spec = self.specification - raise Gem::LoadError, "Couldn't resolve: #{self}" unless spec - spec.activate + Gem::Specification.find_by_name(name, requirement).activate end end @@ -86,6 +84,7 @@ module Isolate Gem::DependencyInstaller.new(:development => false, :generate_rdoc => false, :generate_ri => false, + :user_install => true, :install_dir => @sandbox.path) Gem::Command.build_args = Array(options[:args]) if options[:args]