Over at oreillynet.com, Derek Sivers has an opinion piece about why, after two years, he’s switched back from Rails to PHP. I found this pretty interesting to read. When something fresh like Rails appears on the scene, you get what I call “The Java Reaction”. Everyone craps their pants about how amazing it is and how it will save the world from Space Nazis. Then, after a while, some really cool apps show up using the New Thing.

Then, inevitably, some people move back to where they started. I think there is an “early adopter” mentality that can overcome business needs, skillsets, and often good taste.

I’m not crapping on Rails, though. It’s amazing, and I really enjoy tinkering with it. But…I know PHP pretty well, and it does what I need. So I’m not in a hurry to go 100% Rails, or to even move this site over to Rails.

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