Ru y was something that one guy tinkered with briefly. It was less used than Perl. Java and php was what tools were built in at my company.

TBH the biggest difference is him being more vocal.

I'm pretty sure most of the people who did "web stuff" at the time and used twitter (key point maybe) know him simply because you'd often see his tweets. Regardless of coutry (I'm from Russia, for exampl)

There was a big RoR scene in Glasgow in the mid-2000s, but there were a few of us that were resolutely Django.

I stand by that decision, for various reasons.

Not least being that "Why's Poignant Guide to Ruby" gave me the ick.