I have been there too and was a bit surprised by the
Ruby promotion.
There is also pretty long discussion regarding RoR on
TSS:
http://www.theserverside.com/news/thread.tss?thread_id=37121

Let me post here few excerpts from the discussion:
+++++++++++++++++++++++++
Bruce Tate : For at least one class of applications,
web-based apps on a relational database where you
control your own schema, you'd be crazy not to
consider Rails. <<<
+++++++++++++++++++++++++
Me: I would say that for this and all other types of
web applications it would be crazy not to consider
DreamWeaver + Tapestry+ (Spring|HiveMind)+ Hibernate+
(Eclipse+Spindle|IntellijIDEA) combo.

DW allows creating entire UI for the application in
the DW and present/discuss/change it with customers! –
before anything else is done – enormous time saver.

Tapestry allows using the DW output for development (
VERY noticeable difference from PHP/JSP when
developers have to redo everything based on designers
input)

Tapestry allows using DW for maintaining page and
component templates (wow!).

(Spring|HiveMind) – does the plumbing

Hibernate – takes care of your database schema if we
own the schema or allows us to play nicely with
whatever schema is forced on us.

(Eclise+Spindle|IntellijIDEA) – enormously help with
code creation and navigation – things which do not
exist in the world of RoR.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++
Bruce Tate about RoR shortcomings:

- No hard core ORM (but that's changing.)
- No distributed two phased commit.
- Poor internationalization, but that's changing.
- Less community
- No credible JVM implementation (but that's changing
rapidly).
- Fewer IDE with less refactoring support.
- Fewer open source projects
- Not as much commercial backing
- Not as many jobs
- Tougher sell politically
+++++++++++++++++++++++++



Personally I see no reasons to worry about RoR yet.
Personally I have found Neal Ford's talk about Domain
Specific Languages and Language Workbenches to much
more interesting. I am convinced that DSL + LW is the
Next Big Thing that will displace MDA and RoR toys
into tiny niches. By the way Neal sees RoR as a kind
of DSL implementation, which is a bit different from
seemingly prevailing view of RoR as a library/wizard
type approach.

http://www.martinfowler.com/articles/languageWorkbench.html



--- Ben Munat <bent@...> wrote:

> I can't make it to the meeting tomorrow night, but I
> thought I'd toss this out to perhaps
> start a little lively discussion.
>
> I went to NFJS this weekend and was pretty much
> completely blown away by this discovery:
> basically ALL of the speakers were promoting Ruby!
> There were sessions by Bruce Tate, Dave
> Thomas, and David Geary that were specifically about
> Ruby, but several other speakers
> dropped Ruby bits into their talks.
>
> I figured I'd spark a debate at the expert panel
> discussion on Sunday by asking if ANY of
> them thought Ruby wasn't worth the time, or had a
> downside.... I was surprised to find
> that they all agreed that Ruby was great, that it
> was definitely worth learning, and
> (mostly) thought Rails is the best thing since
> sliced bread.
>
> Interstingly enough, however, I had a one-on-one
> converstation with Bruce Tate Friday
> night and he agreed that the big buzz behind Ruby
> will quite likely result in another
> "over-adoption" debacle like EJB and the dangerous
> freedom is offers might make it
> worse... but he still thinks we should all switch to
> Ruby!
>
> Whatever one thinks of the language, it does seem
> like the Ruby buzz has reached a
> deafening roar... it would seem advisable for any
> serious programmer to become familiar
> with it.
>
> I saw several other Seajuggers at the conference, so
> anyone who didn't go can ask them for
> further clarification.
>
> Ben
>
> PS: I was playing with Ruby a bit more tonight (have
> dabbled off and on for a few months)
> and was surprised to find that it has no way of
> overloading methods! That seems pretty
> sucky...
>
>
>

Konstantin Ignatyev




PS: If this is a typical day on planet earth, humans will add fifteen million
tons of carbon to the atmosphere, destroy 115 square miles of tropical
rainforest, create seventy-two miles of desert, eliminate between forty to one
hundred species, erode seventy-one million tons of topsoil, add 2,700 tons of
CFCs to the stratosphere, and increase their population by 263,000

Bowers, C.A. The Culture of Denial: Why the Environmental Movement Needs a
Strategy for Reforming Universities and Public Schools. New York: State
University of New York Press, 1997: (4) (5) (p.206)