Which Python web framework is most like Ruby on Rails?

[Michael Tobis]

Clearly the Ruby/Rails folks are making an effort to place themselves
as an easy-to-learn first language for people who might otherwise drift
into the rather awkward template-first way of thinking that is PHP.

I note that the Rails people are closely affiliated with the 37signals
people who in turn are closely linked with some advertising
professionals.

Python people don't really think that way. As a community we really
seem to inherit the open source dysfunction of trying harder to impress
each other than to reach out to the rest of the world. The problem is
that this makes for amazing brilliance that is more or less invisible
to most of the world.

This leaves me believing that the commercial future is probably
brighter for Ruby vs Python. This won't affect the fact that Python is
probably still going to prevail in the scientific community, since
scientists aren't all that susceptible to promotion. That being the
case I don't think I myself will jump ship.

Since I am casting my lot with Python rather than Ruby, I think we
should take the friendly rivalry seriously rather than just shrugging
it off. Python MUST attract some of the most promising novice
programmers, and I believe that was part of its original design.

As a consequence Python MUST settle on a strong web framework that
includes the best of the existing frameworks, and polish it for maximum
accessibility as well as power.

Just on the basis of momentum rather than any strong technical argument
(which I am not well-qualified to make) I suggest we consider settling
on Django and doing what we can to improve it and its documentation.

mt