Also,
>When the JVM implementation of Ruby, JRuby, added native support for this instruction, its performance zoomed past the C-based Ruby VM, which for years has been the Ruby reference platform. As JRuby's performance continues to pull ahead, I fully expect it to become the reference implementation. Certainly, it will become the vehicle by which most organization first try out Ruby.
This was true at some time, afaik the MRI Ruby on 1.9.3+ is faster-than or about-the-same-as the equivalent JRuby implementation. I also know zero people who were first exposed to Ruby via JRuby.
JRuby is awesome btw. I just think this article has a bit of a defensive tone...