Hacker News Reader

Comment by iamscanner | Hacker News Reader

> Doesn't Heroku alone pretty much blow this statement away?

Not really - he said "very few", not "there aren't any". You can find mod_python all over the place - where are your shared ruby hosting options?

View on HN

I just mean that it implies that finding cheap hosting for a ruby webapp is problematic. If the purpose of that statement is to say that more places will support Python than Ruby, then it should probably be worded differently.

Heroku may be a good value for what it is, but it's vastly more expensive than a lot of entry-level shared hosting services - you know, the kind of place that starts at $5 or $10 per month and runs cPanel or an equivalent. Lots of those support Python these days; Ruby support still seems to be much rarer.

Heroku hosting starts at $0. I've got about a dozen apps running on Heroku, most of which I pay nothing for

Heroku's free hosting is leaps and bounds beyond what a typical $5-$10 shared host offers, and there's an easy upgrade path. Sure, you can come up with specific usage levels where a shared host is cheaper on a bit-to-dollar basis, but you're still not accounting for Heroku's main selling point: convenience and saving developer time. This plus the fact that the vast majority of sites on $5-$10 shared hosting would fit easily on Heroku's free plan means that value-wise, Heroku faces much stiffer competition from Linode than any shared provider.

I like and am comfortable with both Python and Ruby, and one of the biggest reasons I choose Rails for projects nowadays is Heroku, and I'm not alone. Given this, I really don't see how you could claim Python has any edge when it comes to hosting. If you're concerned about what tons of shared hosting providers have installed, why not just use php?

We support Rails at HostGator.com, either using cPanel-managed Mongrel or through a FCGI dispatcher (I personally assist with multiple set-ups daily). Perhaps not as ideal for a 100% Rails shop as Heroku, but the option is definitely there.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com