Okay, flame on ;)!

> What is your favorite Ruby template language for generating HTML?

ATM, Erector. I have to admit that "template language" is a topic
I hate because I've never seen one that I totally like while not being
able to come up with a better one. I do miss a Ruby version of TAL,
though, just for play.

> Which editor do you use to edit HTML templates?

Textmate, VIM

> Which editor do you use to edit Ruby source?

Textmate, VIM

> If Ruby had optional significant whitespace as a core language  
> feature (maybe
> like http://gist.github.com/117694), would you use it:
> - Never?
> - Sometimes?
> - All the time?
> - Don't care?
> - Only with different syntax (lazibi, colon, something else?)

Never, such a feature should not be optional. I would not use Code  
written
using that feature.

> If your favorite template language is Haml, would you prefer Erector  
> if Ruby
> had significant whitespace?
> (yes/no/NA)

> If you actually dislike Haml, is it because of the significant  
> whitespace?
> (yes/no/NA)

yes, while it is not the only reason.

> Have you done any significant development in Python?
> (yes/no)

What's significant? I've done my fair share of development in  
languages using
the off-side-rule, e.g. Python and Haskell.

yes

> That's all.
>
> I welcome opinions, but what I'm after here are either specific,  
> countable
> statistics, or a criticism of the questions being asked. I think  
> there will be
> a lot more to discuss once we have some numbers.

Okay, I tend to ignore this discussion, mostly because I don't think  
it is
worth much. It comes up every half a year, fills the mailing list and  
is only
beaten by long discussions about ++.

While I'm not explicitly against using the off-side-rule (I like how  
Haskell
uses it), I think you should pick one and stick with it. Ruby doesn't.  
In the
end, I don't see syntax as that important.
For example, if I'd had to steal something from Python, it would be  
guaranteed
Method identity.

I also would prefer a parser for literal Ruby much more than having  
significant
whitespace.

Regards,
Florian