Need a compelling argument to use Django instead of Rails

[Ray]

Ben Sizer wrote:
> a minimal layer over the C interface anyway. DirectX support only
> appeared this year unless you used IronPython, and it doesn't seem very
> popular.

IronPython is not released yet, I do hope it will become popular
though. It's in RC1 now and should be released soon. I'm really looking
forward to it!

> > Certainly, some Web frameworks have some element of Java flavouring,
> > but there's also considerable diversity at least at certain levels.
>
> Pretty much every Python web offering revolves around you having your
> own server with the luxury of running your own long-running processes
> on it. Great for business apps, not much use for the hobbyist or
> independent site. There are probably some hosts that will provide
> shared hosting for your Django or Turbogears app, but they are not
> exactly numerous. The barrier to entry here is much higher than with
> PHP or ASP, for example. And even with the full framework approach, the
> field has been so fragmented until recently that in terms of community
> support, you'd be better off opting for another language. I appreciate
> there's a diversity vs. standardisation argument there which may never
> be settled, so I accept this is just a personal opinion, but I do think
> a critical mass of users is important with any technology.

Diversity can be a pain in the ass sometimes. Instead of ending up with
something really good you end up with a lot of mediocre stuff (Note:
I'm not saying anything about Django or Turbogears here, mind!).
Reminds me of the time when I was installing Linux for the first time
and finding out that there were tons of text editor included in the
distro. I only need vi so that wasn't a problem, but I could imagine
someone from a strictly Windows world would wish that there was only
one text editor :)

> I'm in a similar situation to the original poster; I'd like to use
> Turbogears for an app I want to write, but will probably end up doing
> it in PHP instead, because I can't get dedicated hardware or a local
> host for Turbogears. (Never mind the lack of documentation.)

Yep. And my case now is pretty much shot with no Oracle/SQL Server
support.

> > Otherwise, no amount of complaining will put the
> > two technologies together.
>
> It's a fair point, but on the other hand, saying "if you want it doing,
> do it yourself" doesn't objectively improve the status quo. If
> something doesn't exist, it doesn't exist, and it's valid to comment
> upon that fact.

Couldn't agree more. A lot of would-be users, upon being told that,
would simply turn to another framework/language/platform/whatever that
does provide the feature in question. This is especially true for
companies with fast moving projects like the one I'm working for at the
moment.

Of course, then we can always say, "sureeee, go ahead, your loss blah
blah blah" Well maybe. But how does it help ourselves really?

> 
> -- 
> Ben Sizer