I can create a new project using rails and I can use stuff like

rails migration ...

and i (correctly) get a error because the sqlite gem is missing.

but when i try using rails migration ... with a project i checked out from github, it doesn't recognize that it is a rails project i get:

Usage:
  rails new APP_PATH [options]

Options:
  -d, [--database=DATABASE]   # Preconfigure for selected database (options: mysql/oracle/postgresql/sqlite3/frontbase/ibm_db)
                              # Default: sqlite3
  -O, [--skip-active-record]  # Skip Active Record files
      [--dev]                 # Setup the application with Gemfile pointing to your Rails checkout
  -J, [--skip-prototype]      # Skip Prototype files
  -T, [--skip-test-unit]      # Skip Test::Unit files
  -G, [--skip-git]            # Skip Git ignores and keeps
  -b, [--builder=BUILDER]     # Path to an application builder (can be a filesystem path or URL)
      [--edge]                # Setup the application with Gemfile pointing to Rails repository
  -m, [--template=TEMPLATE]   # Path to an application template (can be a filesystem path or URL)
  -r, [--ruby=PATH]           # Path to the Ruby binary of your choice
                              # Default: /usr/bin/ruby1.8
      [--skip-gemfile]        # Don't create a Gemfile

and it goes on. any ideas?

edit: it's probably an important detail that earlier my rails wasn't working at all. i had to cp /usr/bin/ruby to /usr/bin/local/ruby