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The biggest risk when going with a long established solution is the potential danger of picking something that is on its way out of the zeitgeist. Not that pick

The biggest risk when going with a long established solution is the potential danger of picking something that is on its way out of the zeitgeist. Not that picking your tech stack should be a popularity contest (and in fact many people make the wrong choice by chasing trends), but picking a component that has been left behind can have some real consequences (e.g. might become increasingly harder to find good talent for it). But your post mentioned RoR is having a bit of a renaissance. Its maintainers are still invested in it, and there’s enough of a community that you’ll find support. To me that sort of answers your question. I’ll also say I’ve learned to take opinions about technologies on HN with a grain of salt. You’ll often find someone gushing about something and then find out, it’s someone in a team of one working on a greenfield project. Their take may not be at all relevant depending on your specific situation.

shortrounddev2 2y ago
Alternatively, hire people because of their intrinsic competency and not because they check the "X years of experience in Rails" box. Hire people who can pick up new languages easily
- mettamage 2y ago
  Most companies don't do that in my experience. It'd have been easier to get hired over the years if they did.
  - gregors 2y ago
    It's always been a non-issue for me. However, when I do want to explore a new stack I generally go as a consultant or in a small startup i.e. not-well-funded. I'm more than willing to pay the price in wage for a few shorter-term engagements.
    - mettamage 2y ago
      Ever since I'm a data analyst, I found that career happiness is more important than wages depending where someone is on the career happiness track. Software engineering is just a bit too much for me. Where I work now as a data a data analyst, keeps me sane. It's the diversity and variety of tasks that I like.
Levitating 2y ago
> The biggest risk when going with a long established solution is the potential danger of picking something that is on its way out of the zeitgeist. I long established solutions are likely long established for a reason. And they are also likely protected by the interests of the companies already using them. I think it's easy to eyeball if an older solution is still actively developed, RoR clearly is. Newer solutions can be very popular and active now, but die within just a few years. Just look at all the JavaScript frameworks we've gained and lost in just the last couple of years.

shortrounddev2 2y ago

Alternatively, hire people because of their intrinsic competency and not because they check the "X years of experience in Rails" box. Hire people who can pick up new languages easily

mettamage 2y ago
Most companies don't do that in my experience. It'd have been easier to get hired over the years if they did.
- gregors 2y ago
  It's always been a non-issue for me. However, when I do want to explore a new stack I generally go as a consultant or in a small startup i.e. not-well-funded. I'm more than willing to pay the price in wage for a few shorter-term engagements.
  - mettamage 2y ago
    Ever since I'm a data analyst, I found that career happiness is more important than wages depending where someone is on the career happiness track. Software engineering is just a bit too much for me. Where I work now as a data a data analyst, keeps me sane. It's the diversity and variety of tasks that I like.

Levitating 2y ago

> The biggest risk when going with a long established solution is the potential danger of picking something that is on its way out of the zeitgeist. I long established solutions are likely long established for a reason. And they are also likely protected by the interests of the companies already using them. I think it's easy to eyeball if an older solution is still actively developed, RoR clearly is. Newer solutions can be very popular and active now, but die within just a few years. Just look at all the JavaScript frameworks we've gained and lost in just the last couple of years.