cannot install ruby gem bigdecimal, upgrading clang fixes it

[jay-aye-see-kay]

What happened?

The latest version of ruby cannot use bigdecimal a common transitive dependency. The previous minor version is fine, and I have a workaround adding clang to the project, but that feels like the wrong approach long term.

Steps to reproduce

# setup devbox
cd $(mktemp -d)
devbox init
devbox add [email protected] # current latest
devbox generate direnv

# setup ruby project
bundle init
bundle add bigdecimal # !!! FAILS HERE

# workaround #1 install a newer version of clang
clang --version # v11.1.0
devbox add clang
clang --version # v19.1.6
bundle install # SUCCESS: installs bigdecimal

# workaround #2 install an older version of ruby
devbox rm clang ruby
rm -rf $GEM_HOME
devbox add [email protected]
bundle install # SUCCESS: installs bigdecimal

# [optional] clean up
export OLD_DIR=$PWD
cd $HOME
rm -rf $OLD_DIR

Command

No response

devbox.json

{"packages": ["[email protected]"]}

Devbox version

0.13.7

Nix version

nix (Nix) 2.24.11

What system does this bug occur on?

macOS (Apple Silicon)

Debug logs

These are logs from bundle install as it's not a devbox command failing

Fetching gem metadata from https://rubygems.org/.
Resolving dependencies...
Fetching gem metadata from https://rubygems.org/.
Resolving dependencies...
Fetching bigdecimal 3.1.9
Installing bigdecimal 3.1.9 with native extensions
Gem::Ext::BuildError: ERROR: Failed to build gem native extension.

current directory:
/private/var/folders/cp/kp1z7bk902qd09vnskdwr11r0000gp/T/tmp.Y8OnNpuhoj/.devbox/virtenv/ruby/gems/bigdecimal-3.1.9/ext/bigdecimal
/nix/store/jy0inyrnpg1596p95qa5g76fwxa5aj33-ruby-3.4.1/bin/ruby extconf.rb
checking for __builtin_clz()... *** extconf.rb failed ***
Could not create Makefile due to some reason, probably lack of necessary
libraries and/or headers.  Check the mkmf.log file for more details.  You may
need configuration options.

Provided configuration options:
        --with-opt-dir
        --without-opt-dir
        --with-opt-include=${opt-dir}/include
        --without-opt-include
        --with-opt-lib=${opt-dir}/lib
        --without-opt-lib
        --with-make-prog
        --without-make-prog
        --srcdir=.
        --curdir
        --ruby=/nix/store/jy0inyrnpg1596p95qa5g76fwxa5aj33-ruby-3.4.1/bin/$(RUBY_BASE_NAME)
/nix/store/jy0inyrnpg1596p95qa5g76fwxa5aj33-ruby-3.4.1/lib/ruby/3.4.0/mkmf.rb:528:in 'MakeMakefile#try_do': The compiler failed to generate an
executable file. (RuntimeError)
You have to install development tools first.

        from /nix/store/jy0inyrnpg1596p95qa5g76fwxa5aj33-ruby-3.4.1/lib/ruby/3.4.0/mkmf.rb:655:in 'MakeMakefile#try_compile'
        from extconf.rb:6:in 'block in Object#have_builtin_func'
        from /nix/store/jy0inyrnpg1596p95qa5g76fwxa5aj33-ruby-3.4.1/lib/ruby/3.4.0/mkmf.rb:1070:in 'block in MakeMakefile#checking_for'
        from /nix/store/jy0inyrnpg1596p95qa5g76fwxa5aj33-ruby-3.4.1/lib/ruby/3.4.0/mkmf.rb:370:in 'block (2 levels) in MakeMakefile::Logging.postpone'
        from /nix/store/jy0inyrnpg1596p95qa5g76fwxa5aj33-ruby-3.4.1/lib/ruby/3.4.0/mkmf.rb:340:in 'MakeMakefile::Logging.open'
        from /nix/store/jy0inyrnpg1596p95qa5g76fwxa5aj33-ruby-3.4.1/lib/ruby/3.4.0/mkmf.rb:370:in 'block in MakeMakefile::Logging.postpone'
        from /nix/store/jy0inyrnpg1596p95qa5g76fwxa5aj33-ruby-3.4.1/lib/ruby/3.4.0/mkmf.rb:340:in 'MakeMakefile::Logging.open'
        from /nix/store/jy0inyrnpg1596p95qa5g76fwxa5aj33-ruby-3.4.1/lib/ruby/3.4.0/mkmf.rb:366:in 'MakeMakefile::Logging.postpone'
        from /nix/store/jy0inyrnpg1596p95qa5g76fwxa5aj33-ruby-3.4.1/lib/ruby/3.4.0/mkmf.rb:1069:in 'MakeMakefile#checking_for'
        from extconf.rb:5:in 'Object#have_builtin_func'
        from extconf.rb:18:in '<main>'

To see why this extension failed to compile, please check the mkmf.log which can be found here:

/private/var/folders/cp/kp1z7bk902qd09vnskdwr11r0000gp/T/tmp.Y8OnNpuhoj/.devbox/virtenv/ruby/extensions/arm64-darwin-24/3.4.0/bigdecimal-3.1.9/mkmf.log

extconf failed, exit code 1

Gem files will remain installed in /private/var/folders/cp/kp1z7bk902qd09vnskdwr11r0000gp/T/tmp.Y8OnNpuhoj/.devbox/virtenv/ruby/gems/bigdecimal-3.1.9
for inspection.
Results logged to
/private/var/folders/cp/kp1z7bk902qd09vnskdwr11r0000gp/T/tmp.Y8OnNpuhoj/.devbox/virtenv/ruby/extensions/arm64-darwin-24/3.4.0/bigdecimal-3.1.9/gem_make.out

  /nix/store/jy0inyrnpg1596p95qa5g76fwxa5aj33-ruby-3.4.1/lib/ruby/3.4.0/rubygems/ext/builder.rb:125:in 'Gem::Ext::Builder.run'
  /nix/store/jy0inyrnpg1596p95qa5g76fwxa5aj33-ruby-3.4.1/lib/ruby/3.4.0/rubygems/ext/ext_conf_builder.rb:28:in 'Gem::Ext::ExtConfBuilder.build'
  /nix/store/jy0inyrnpg1596p95qa5g76fwxa5aj33-ruby-3.4.1/lib/ruby/3.4.0/rubygems/ext/builder.rb:193:in 'Gem::Ext::Builder#build_extension'
  /nix/store/jy0inyrnpg1596p95qa5g76fwxa5aj33-ruby-3.4.1/lib/ruby/3.4.0/rubygems/ext/builder.rb:227:in 'block in Gem::Ext::Builder#build_extensions'
  /nix/store/jy0inyrnpg1596p95qa5g76fwxa5aj33-ruby-3.4.1/lib/ruby/3.4.0/rubygems/ext/builder.rb:224:in 'Array#each'
  /nix/store/jy0inyrnpg1596p95qa5g76fwxa5aj33-ruby-3.4.1/lib/ruby/3.4.0/rubygems/ext/builder.rb:224:in 'Gem::Ext::Builder#build_extensions'
  /nix/store/jy0inyrnpg1596p95qa5g76fwxa5aj33-ruby-3.4.1/lib/ruby/3.4.0/rubygems/installer.rb:844:in 'Gem::Installer#build_extensions'
/nix/store/jy0inyrnpg1596p95qa5g76fwxa5aj33-ruby-3.4.1/lib/ruby/3.4.0/bundler/rubygems_gem_installer.rb:111:in
'Bundler::RubyGemsGemInstaller#build_extensions'
/nix/store/jy0inyrnpg1596p95qa5g76fwxa5aj33-ruby-3.4.1/lib/ruby/3.4.0/bundler/rubygems_gem_installer.rb:30:in
'Bundler::RubyGemsGemInstaller#install'
  /nix/store/jy0inyrnpg1596p95qa5g76fwxa5aj33-ruby-3.4.1/lib/ruby/3.4.0/bundler/source/rubygems.rb:205:in 'Bundler::Source::Rubygems#install'
  /nix/store/jy0inyrnpg1596p95qa5g76fwxa5aj33-ruby-3.4.1/lib/ruby/3.4.0/bundler/installer/gem_installer.rb:55:in 'Bundler::GemInstaller#install'
/nix/store/jy0inyrnpg1596p95qa5g76fwxa5aj33-ruby-3.4.1/lib/ruby/3.4.0/bundler/installer/gem_installer.rb:17:in
'Bundler::GemInstaller#install_from_spec'
/nix/store/jy0inyrnpg1596p95qa5g76fwxa5aj33-ruby-3.4.1/lib/ruby/3.4.0/bundler/installer/parallel_installer.rb:133:in
'Bundler::ParallelInstaller#do_install'
/nix/store/jy0inyrnpg1596p95qa5g76fwxa5aj33-ruby-3.4.1/lib/ruby/3.4.0/bundler/installer/parallel_installer.rb:124:in 'block in
Bundler::ParallelInstaller#worker_pool'
  /nix/store/jy0inyrnpg1596p95qa5g76fwxa5aj33-ruby-3.4.1/lib/ruby/3.4.0/bundler/worker.rb:62:in 'Bundler::Worker#apply_func'
  /nix/store/jy0inyrnpg1596p95qa5g76fwxa5aj33-ruby-3.4.1/lib/ruby/3.4.0/bundler/worker.rb:57:in 'block in Bundler::Worker#process_queue'
  <internal:kernel>:168:in 'Kernel#loop'
  /nix/store/jy0inyrnpg1596p95qa5g76fwxa5aj33-ruby-3.4.1/lib/ruby/3.4.0/bundler/worker.rb:54:in 'Bundler::Worker#process_queue'
  /nix/store/jy0inyrnpg1596p95qa5g76fwxa5aj33-ruby-3.4.1/lib/ruby/3.4.0/bundler/worker.rb:90:in 'block (2 levels) in Bundler::Worker#create_threads'

An error occurred while installing bigdecimal (3.1.9), and Bundler cannot continue.

In Gemfile:
  bigdecimal

[jay-aye-see-kay]

While looking into this something else surprised me, devbox adds this old version of clang to all projects by default, I would have expected it to default to the system version, or at least a more recent clang version.

# macOS system version (via with xcode-tools)
cd $HOME && which clang && clang version # v16.0.0

# devbox provides a quite old version of clang in a blank project
cd (mktemp -d) && devbox init && devbox run 'which clang && clang --version' # v11.1.0

Is this behaviour intentional?