It's just as easy to get mod_python working as it is mod_php.
Compare that to getting CodeIgniter up and running: SFTP the files into the server, and you're up. No server configuration needed.
One could argue that this is not a feature of PHP itself, but that doesn't change the fact that "normal" PHP solutions are simply faster to get up and running.
In what circumstances does the fact that a Hello World can be setup in 5 mins versus 10 actually matter?
We spend thousands of hours developing software.
Five mins versus 10 is truly moot.
Besides, you're going to get into httpd.conf to configure a vhost before long -- mod_php or mod_wsgi -- so it's not as if it's a hands-off experience with PHP.
mod_wsgi on the other hand... 4 lines in your apache config file. 6 if you're using a daemon process (which is better).
So I stand by my point!!
Node.js wins for deployment if you ask me. Node.js + riak handily beats the pants off of the LAMP stack. It's so easy I'll tell you how to do it right now:
1. Install node, ./configure && make && make install
2. Install riak, make all rel && mv rel/riak /usr/local && export PATH="/usr/local/riak/bin:$PATH"
3. Install your app: scp -r remote:/my/app /web
4. Install dependencies: cd /web/app && npm install
5. Run your app: node /web/app/do/something/cool.js
(I'm being somewhat facetious and these instructions don't get you startup services and such, but I do believe that Node.js stacks are much simpler than traditional stacks and easier for devs that have to wear the sysadmin hat too)
Noobs can't do what you just outlined; they'll be puzzled the first time one of the commands fail (missing compiler, failed dependencies, whatever).
If they can install and configure Apache on a remote server, they can install and run node. I don't think it requires any more skill to copy and paste different commands into the console and you don't have to edit any configs or ask questions like "what distro? does your distro configure apache for vhosts out of the box? do you have an httpd.conf or vhost.enabled? run nano and hit ctrl-o to "write out" the file..."
Honestly though I don't think noobs do these things anyway. They will just ftp stuff into a directory on their host if they're using PHP. If they're using node I think the easiest deployment scenario is doing a git push. So practically speaking PHP is still the easiest for a clueless Windows noob to use.
Let's take your VPS example. Install nginx, gunicorn, and your database of choice. Set up gunicorn to serve your app, set up nginx to serve static and proxy to your gunicorn instance. Do any app-specific setup.
That doesn't take any longer than deploying a PHP app, at least not for me.
Well, you do need to install the AMP part. Since you're installing and configuring three components, why not install and configure different ones? It's not more or less work either way.
If you're talking about AMI/StackScript-style pre-built VPSes, there are plenty for various Ruby, Python, and Node stacks as well as PHP.
Can't speak for rails, but for Django we're talking 15 lines and a pair of commands for a clean setup:
* Create a virtualenv with all your dependencies and your django application checked out (0 lines)
* Extract static files to whatever directory you're serving static files from (1 command in 1.3)
* Create your wsgi handler script (4 lines, because you have to setup the DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE env)
* WSGIScriptAlias and the relevant directory allow (5 lines)
* WSGIDaemonProcess and WSGIProcessGroup configuration directives (2 lines)
done.
Sure, PHP comes pre-configured out of the box. But there are no real differences between `apt-get install python-django` (comes with a development web-server, runnable as ./manage.py runserver) and `apt-get install apache2 libapache2-php`.