There is one major reason why PHP is so popular: The step from HTML only to a slightly enhanced webpage with dynamic elements is easier than with any other lan

There is one major reason why PHP is so popular: The step from HTML only to a slightly enhanced webpage with dynamic elements is easier than with any other language (JS included). Combine that with the simplicity of mod_apache (that is available on almost every web host) and it is the easiest way into programming. Create a mod_[ruby|python] that just evaluates ERB/Jinja templates and is as simple to integrate into apache and you might be able to do something good.