Jun 04 2008
mod_rails revisited
For those not familiar with the subject following is a short explanation, all experienced readers may skip this paragraph.
Until now it was a bit of extra work to deploy a Ruby On Rails applications because there was no Apache module like mod_php for PHP – to let deployment happen just by copying files to a server. Tools like Capistrano are to help but the Rails community expressed many times how much they miss PHP approach. The situation has changed when guys from Phusion created mod_rails project. Last time I checked it was in a good shape yet missing couple details from the documentation. Despite problems I was stunned with a quick support provided by one of the developers. That was a good sign for the project. Now I feel it is time to check how things are going.
The most important change I noticed now is the new name: Passenger (mod_passenger). The old name is abandoned as the Apache module is now able to do more than just handle rails applications. With new version Rack support is introduced, thus other frameworks like Merb or Sinatra can be served. That is a big hit, but it is not all! mod_passenger supports now WSGI interface. That means with same module you may also serve Python web frameworks like Django, Turbogears and more.
Phusion is also working on Ruby Enterprise project. This one is Ruby interpreter on steroids. Lightning fast response, less memory footprint – that together with mod_passenger will bring Ruby to the masses for sure.
Check the presentation for more details and this page for a list of links that may help you to start playing with mod_passenger.
Now you can imagine hosting companies will become more eager to support Ruby applications. Say goodbye to “We support PHP only” hosting plans! My provider already introduced Passenger to list of available configurations.
