SpringHeeledJack,
Well, I wouldn't quite call Ruby supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.
Different programming languages have the same effect on developers as the old mac, windows, nix/nux debate has on your average computer user, i.e. it leads to many disagreements and no firm answer.
Ruby is one of the newest languages to hit the IT crowd (along side the likes of Python). PHP, Perl & Java are the next big names one generation back. And finally the old-school, but mature like a good wine names like C.
The reason the likes of Ruby, Python, PHP and Perl are popular is that they are interpreted languages, not compiled ones.
This means they are easy to learn because you just write scripts without needing to worry about the voodoo magic that goes on behind the scenes (such as the black art of memory management etc.) . This in turn, leads to an easy life in the commercial world where buzzwords such as "agile development" where trendy companies want quick results, and none of the traditional development model of sitting down and planning things before you start to hack away at your keyboard. On the other hand, compiled languages such as C and Java demand more a more disciplined work ethic.
I could go on for ages, but basically scripting languages are a much of muchness (because you hand off control of all the interesting stuff to the blackbox interpreter they're all basically dumb languages) ..... in the right hands, they are all a great tool. In the wrong hands, you end up with a dog slow, buggy, insecure application written by people who don't understand how a database works and think the work of the database should be done by their poorly coded scripts (to cite one common example).
As for why "ruby developers wanted" ... well, trendy "web 2.0" developers seem to think newer is better and would much rather use a funky new coding method that's only been around a few minutes rather than writing something decent in more mature languages. But then that probably reflects the average short lifespan of the websites they produce ....
