Gem.coop is a community-driven hosting service for Ruby gems, designed for speed and compatibility with Bundler, established by former maintainers of RubyGems.org. It aims to provide transparent, sustainable, and secure gem hosting, welcoming contributions from the Ruby community. Users can switch their Gemfile source to Gem.coop for real-time updates on all gems.

The article discusses the recent removal of long-time maintainers from Ruby Central, who were responsible for Bundler and RubyGems, and the subsequent actions taken by Matz to regain control over these projects. The former maintainers express their commitment to the Ruby community and their readiness to transfer their interests and rights to Matz, while focusing on new projects to enhance Ruby's development.