Better advice:

make sure you have Gemfile and Gemfile.lock checked into git so you can rollback if necessary. Then type "bundle update rails".

rvm gemsets are not necessary for bundler controlled apps.

I wrote the article because a Google search for "updating rails" doesn't show any helpful results. With the urgent need to update to Rails 3.2.11 because of the recently announced security vulnerability, developers need to know what to do (especially part-time and hobby developers).

Operations noob here. Honest question: How do I apply the patch file?

I've never seen one before, and I've managed to gather, via Google and Stack Overflow, how to use a git .patch (I think anyway), but I deploy on Heroku and can't directly access the source of my gems.

I already have the workarounds in place for now, but I'm very bothered that "use the patch" is a meaningless phrase to me. It seems like a useful thing to know for future scenarios.