I was being facitious suggesting that somehow a Linux install would be substantially different from one VPS provider to the next (likewise that Python would be

I was being facitious suggesting that somehow a Linux install would be substantially different from one VPS provider to the next (likewise that Python would be any easier or harder to hack on than Ruby). While I agree that playing with production code is generally a bad idea, there are certainly times it's called for (granted, 2AM may not be one of those times, if a few hours later you can be in your "normal" development environment)