Single user rvm needs sudo, and adding users to rvm group

Question

I am following the instructions on the rvm site. First, I tried to install for single users:

$ curl -L https://get.rvm.io | bash -s stable

  % Total    % Received % Xferd  Average Speed   Time    Time     Time  Current
                                 Dload  Upload   Total   Spent    Left  Speed
100   185  100   185    0     0     35      0  0:00:05  0:00:05 --:--:--   280
100  9439  100  9439    0     0   1602      0  0:00:05  0:00:05 --:--:-- 30642
mkdir: cannot create directory `/usr/share/ruby-rvm': Permission denied

Are the instructions on the site wrong? Can someone on the rvm team either correct their install file or change the directions?

Then, I tried the multi-user install

$ curl -L https://get.rvm.io | sudo bash -s stable
  % Total    % Received % Xferd  Average Speed   Time    Time     Time  Current
                                 Dload  Upload   Total   Spent    Left  Speed
100   185  100   185    0     0     36      0  0:00:05  0:00:05 --:--:--   298
100  9439  100  9439    0     0    864      0  0:00:10  0:00:10 --:--:-- 23192
Downloading RVM from wayneeseguin branch stable
  % Total    % Received % Xferd  Average Speed   Time    Time     Time  Current
                                 Dload  Upload   Total   Spent    Left  Speed
100   125  100   125    0     0    199      0 --:--:-- --:--:-- --:--:--   441
100 1046k  100 1046k    0     0   198k      0  0:00:05  0:00:05 --:--:--  262k

Installing RVM to /usr/share/ruby-rvm/
    RVM system user group 'rvm' exists, proceeding with installation.

# RVM:  Shell scripts enabling management of multiple ruby environments.
# RTFM: https://rvm.io/
# HELP: http://webchat.freenode.net/?channels=rvm (#rvm on irc.freenode.net)
# Cheatsheet: http://cheat.errtheblog.com/s/rvm/
# Screencast: http://screencasts.org/episodes/how-to-use-rvm

# In case of any issues read output of 'rvm requirements' and/or 'rvm notes'

Installation of RVM in /usr/share/ruby-rvm/ is almost complete:

  * First you need to add all users that will be using rvm to 'rvm' group,
    and logout - login again, anyone using rvm will be operating with `umask g+w`.

  * To start using RVM you need to run `source /etc/profile.d/rvm.sh`
    in all your open shell windows, in rare cases you need to reopen all shell windows.

# big,
#
#   Thank you for using RVM!
#   I sincerely hope that RVM helps to make your life easier and more enjoyable!!!
#
# ~Wayne


rvm 1.14.11 (stable) by Wayne E. Seguin <[email protected]>, Michal Papis <[email protected]> [https://rvm.io/]

I am a little suspicious because the directions didn't mention anything about adding users. Where are the directions for adding users to the rvm group?

Solution

The version of RVM packaged by Ubuntu is old and broken in mysterious ways, you need to read this for details how to fix: https://stackoverflow.com/a/9056395/497756