Being intentionally vague here so as not to ask a leading question. Has 
anyone given any thought to what ruby needs to make it reach lower into 
areas where even now C/C++ and assembler are used? Apart from native 
compilation and byte code to add speed to the language. What would be 
useful language features to add to allow ruby to be more suited to 
things such as direct use with hardware and embedded application? Would 
it be possible to make it suitable for OS and (hard) real-time 
programming without losing the things that make ruby great at the 
moment?

Jeff.