Re: Ruby On Rails on the iSeries

From: James Rich

And while I understand your point, please see my note to Jerome.  If you
decide to use RoR as a mission critical system component, you are
implicitly taking on DHH as a partner in your company.  It's just
something you need to consider.

This is not nearly as true in the case of RoR as it is in the case of
Microsoft (or even IBM).  I'd rather partner with a guy who cusses than an
unethical company like Microsoft.

There's a big difference, though.  I can buy Microsoft or IBM tools and run
my business on them today.  If I choose to not continue business with them,
I still have a working system that will last for some time.  Granted this is
less true with Microsoft's "continuous beta" software methodology, and even
IBM's minus-two release issue.  But still, there are people running on S/36
iron out there.

With something like RoR, which is absolutely not yet ready for prime time
(as I've noted, things like security and internationalization are severely
lacking), you have to sort of rely on the kindness of strangers when it
comes to whether or not these things will get done and when.  And should you
choose to NOT wait and go off and roll your own, then you run the risk of
not being compatible with the language when it does catch up.  So, yes,
you're in bed with IBM or Microsoft; with RoR you're in the car and they're
driving.

Good points in this discussion are being made though, and it is certainly
true that RoR needs to be evaluated by each person considering deploying
it.  But that's no different than any tech afaict.

Absolutely agreed.  I'm just trying to slow down the juggernaut a tad.

Joe