Unicorn and copy_on_write_friendly?

Question

While researching Unicorn configuration options I came across this snippet..

GC.respond_to?(:copy_on_write_friendly=) and
  GC.copy_on_write_friendly = true

If I undertand correctly, it optimizes how Unicorn handles memory allocation and resource sharing between workers?

I use Unicorn to power my Sinatra application on server with Ruby 1.9.3. Are there any downsides to including the copy_on_write_friendly setting in my unicorn config?

Answer 1

That's not a configuration option, it's a Ruby code snippet that tells it to set copy_on_write_friendly if the GC object has that method. For example, in ruby mainline 1.9.2p290:

1.9.2p290 :003 > GC.copy_on_write_friendly
NoMethodError: undefined method `copy_on_write_friendly' for GC:Module
    from (irb):3
    from /Users/kyle/.rvm/rubies/ruby-1.9.2-p290/bin/irb:16:in `<main>'

The only Ruby interpreter that supports that option to my knowledge is Ruby Enterprise Edition. There's a bit about it here: http://www.rubyenterpriseedition.com/faq.html