Mark Gardner
Ruby and Rails Ecosystem White Paper Available!
Posted by Mark Gardner on 23 October 2009 21:44
Click on the white paper "badge" on any page on our site or go to http://infoether.com/RubyRailsEcosystemFall2009.pdf to download this 7MB PDF.
This paper was a project that has gone on for almost a year. As you'll note from the download page discussion, the idea behind this document came from a major VC firm that wanted a chart of the ecosystem of companies and individuals that has grown up around the Ruby language and the Rails development framework.
To our knowledge, this is the first time someone has tried to map out the ecosystem around a software language and its frameworks. At least it is the first time someone tried to do it without charging for it.
While I was the author of most of the text, the input came from a vast number of sources and individuals. If you are a member of the Ruby/Rails community, we could not get to everyone and if we did not talk to you personally we tried to gather as much information as was available publicly. Remember, we had to do this in and around our day job of running a consultancy and product development company.
In a few cases, some of the ideas built upon were suggested by one or more thought leaders in the community on their blogs. We did not have time or space to make this a lengthy term paper with in-depth attribution pages, so if you see an idea in the paper that you may have discussed on your blog, we try to note that it came from a community discussion -- and thank you here for the effort in expressing it.
Since we are going to continually update this document, we would appreciate all feedback. Remember though that the audience for the paper is not a technical one. A real effort was made to appeal to the investor and business newcomer -- people who are looking to find an advantage and to understand what the big deal is all about behind Ruby and Rails.
We want to promote and celebrate the Ruby and Rails Ecosystem and all those within it.
Enjoy!