Ruby did have a lot going for it about 15 years ago. Many Java/JSP people jumped ship and got on the ruby train. Ruby was a breath of fresh air comparatively.

Ruby did have a lot going for it about 15 years ago. Many Java/JSP people jumped ship and got on the ruby train. Ruby was a breath of fresh air comparatively. Python had a great community though, and the Python Software Foundation went out of it's way to make people feel accepted in the community. And frankly programming is often more of a social activity than most people realize -- particularly for new programmers. So new programmers tended to lean towards python, because the resources to lean on others were there. And people like Raymond Hettinger, Naomi Ceder, Ned Batchelder, and Yarko Tymurciak were approachable even if the BDFL wasn't.