MVC framework
I'm setting up a little MVC web app for my kids' school. First I experimented with Catalyst (perl-based), but I've become a little un-enamored with Perl as a web development language. I'm now experimenting with Ruby on Rails. I found a great walkthrough on setting up RoR in Ubuntu at http://www.urbanpuddle.com/articles/2006/06/10/install-ruby-rails-on-ubuntu-dapper-drake . Another option I experimented with (but it's still too beta for me to quickly figure it out) is Scaffold (http://scaffold.jupiterit.com), a web-based Javascript-based IDE and engine. It runs on Rhino, a server-side Javascript tool. Clever idea, and if I could figure it all out, a pretty quick way to whip together an app!