Why is Ruby on Rails more popular than Django?

[marduk at python.net]

> My questions:
> 1.  Why is Ruby on Rails much more popular than Django?

AFAIK Rails got a slightly longer head start than Django.  And it has
been said that RoR's first killer app was a screencast.  A little
marketing can go a long way.  Since then Django has caught up a bit with
RoR in terms of maturity and adoption (I think this is in part because
of RoR's adoption slowing due to it not being the NKOTB anymore (not to
mention a few security embarrassments))
.
> 2.  Why is there a much stronger demand for Ruby on Rails developers than
> Django/Python developers?

I'm not sure how big the difference is, but it's probably related to its
early(er) adoption.  Same reason that there is a stronger demand for PHP
coders.  PHP hit it big  first, so there is a lot more PHP code to
maintain.

> 3.  If Doppler Value Investing were your project instead of mine, would
> you recommend the Ruby on Rails route or the Django route?

If you already know/work with Python than I would go the Django route. 
RoR and Django are not that much different nowadays as far as
methodologies.  The main differences I think between RoR and Django are
that one is Ruby-based and one is Python-based.  Other than that, if you
can get used to one you can get used to the other.