> I have wondered this same thing.  Sometimes a web framework isn't the
> best option, but I know Ruby very well and I don't know PHP at all.
> What would I have to do that I can just create a file called somepage.rb
> with this in it:

And the good news is ... FRAMEWORKS DON'T HAVE TO EAT YOUR SOUL! :)

RoR is the *Most Popular* web framework for Ruby.
It is *not* the only framework. Some others are:

  Nitro/Og http://www.nitroproject.org/

  Camping http://redhanded.hobix.com/bits/campingAMicroframework.html

  Ramaze http://ramaze.net/

  Sinatra http://sinatra.rubyforge.org/

  Merb http://merbivore.com/

  NARF http://www.narf-lib.org/

  Etc (I'm sure there are many more)

I would recommend looking around and seeing if any one of the dozens
of current frameworks would work for you. They aren't all huge. They
aren't all slow. They don't all have the same (or any) notion of MVC.

In the end I would avoid using PHP at all costs (unless dictated due
to server resources or monetary pay) because I hate that wretched
language. And, I would look at a framework which offers--it doesn't
need to mandate--an MVC architecture or other method of separating
HTML and code. Even if you don't [want to] use it now, having the
option may allow for a cleaner transition....