The thing is Node could offer the Rails out-of-the-box experience through a package that provided sane defaults. There's nothing preventing people from doing this but cultural resistance.
Walmart labs has contributed some great out-of-the-box, with hapi.js and now http://www.electrode.io/
Those are good examples of steering in the right direction, but it's still a long way off.
There are a large number of projects offering a Rails-style OOTB experience in Node. None of them is blessed as the Node framework. This is because there is no one to do the blessing. Node's developer culture being one you find unsatisfactory is not an example of "resistance". It is an example of difference. And if you do not find the Node style to provide you comfort, there is absolutely no requirement anywhere that you partake of it.
Which would these be? Even the best tend to fall far short of the full Rails experience.
> And if you do not find the Node style to provide you comfort, there is absolutely no requirement anywhere that you partake of it.
Translation: "If you don't like it, fuck off."
That's not how the Node community has treated me as long as I've been a part of it. The people I've interacted with are often very welcoming, encouraging and responsible. I'm talking about cultural conventions, not individual attitudes.
The difference is that the Node world is used to things taking time to put together. The Rails world finds this to be unbelievably fussy. Python people from the Django realm are in the middle.
To promote a new way of doing things, like Rails did, is an effort way beyond my singular capability. It will require a lot of like-minded individuals to go "You know, maybe we could make something that wraps around Express and gives you a Rails-like experience for those that want it." and then work towards making that happen.
Your best bet is to search for Foo boilerplate, where foo is what you want to work with, and start from one of many thousands of starting points.
I think the resistance is generators take time and persistent upkeep, while a boilerplate can exist as it is and upgraded intermittently.
In the end, I'd rather work with a lego bulk pack, than the prescriptive kits.
