Is it possible to compile Ruby to byte code as with Python?

Question

In Python, if I want to give out an application without sources I can compile it into bytecode .pyc, is there a way to do something like it in Ruby?

Answer 1

Not with the MRI interpretter, no.

Some newer VM's are being worked on where this is on the table, but these aren't widely used (or even ready to be used) at this point.