Daily Dev Log: "su - app" vs. "su app"

From man su,

   -, -l, --login
      Provide an environment similar to what the user would expect had the user logged in directly.

So with su - app, after switch to the user app, you end up in the user’s HOME directory, and have the user’s ~/.bash_profile (not ~/.bashrc) executed.

Tools like RVM need a “login shell”.

RVM by default adds itself currently to ~/.bash_profile file

So if use su app, RVM will not be ready there for you after su.