First. Using HAML in your project involves all of adding the line "gem 'haml'" to your gemfile. It's not a big deal. Second. You just glanced over the possibil

First. Using HAML in your project involves all of adding the line "gem 'haml'" to your gemfile. It's not a big deal. Second. You just glanced over the possibility that DHH doesn't like HAML for a rational reason, like for instance maybe he doesn't think HAML is that big an improvement over HTML and therefore not worth being a default setting. It's not an irrational dislike that has nothing to do with the qualities of the library itself. I think you underestimate DHH as well as the rest of the Rails core group. And yes, Linus can single handedly stop anything from getting into Linux. This is how most open source projects are run, there is a leader at the top and as long as he/she is doing a good job, people follow.