I think the simpler instructions for your users would be to install perl5.8 without the +universal variant, then install rubycocoa with the +universal variant.
I haven't checked it yet, but I thought that this might build dependencies fro ruby as non universal.
And, why perl again? autoconf requires perl5.8... what requires autoconf?
Giving perl5.8 a functional +universal variant can be investigated separately. The port has no maintainer, however.
The ruby portfile uses autoconf, but I'm not sure if it's really needed. I will try this later on...
I have added a patch which instead of patching configure.in patches configure, so autoconf (and perl) is not needed anymore. I have tested it with a fresh installation and it builds without a problem, but I'm by no means a configure/make expert so if there's some reason why this shouldn't be done I would like to hear it. http://trac.macosforge.org/projects/macports/ticket/12314 Cheers, Eloy