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It's the age old set of trade-offs between buy and build.

Build it all yourself and it takes forever, but you understand it all.

Buy it from somebody else, and you get it quickly, but you're at their mercy for efficient understandable code.

No language or framework is immune. Enjoy your java.

I don't think it's the build vs. buy trade-off, I think it is more a question of efficient platforms for vendor collaboration resulting in the emergence of voluntary standards that create efficient and open markets kind of problem. Ruby has a DIY ethic which is respectable, but there's little infrastructure to support market-wide discussions throughout the ecosystem.

Really, if you want to make analogies. Rails is essential loose federation covered under Articles of Confederation while Java is to be appreciated as a strong Federal system that allows for states to innovate.

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