Rails is done

Rails has reached a point where it is "done", according to its developer community. This conclusion has been reached by multiple individuals, including David Celis a year ago and Paul Battley a few weeks ago. Although the situation may seem dire, the reality is that Rails is a robust codebase that can continue to be improved upon by a small group of committed engineers.

The core parts of the Rails framework, such as railties, actionpack, activesupport, activemodel, activerecord, and actionview, have not seen significant changes since Rails 6.0 in 2019. The remaining components are optional gems or npm packages that can be added if desired. This stability allows for a straightforward process of monitoring the Rails repository for security patches, implementing performance enhancements, and evaluating the addition of minor improvements.

Mosscap, a fork of Rails, is being developed with the primary goal of delivering a long-term support (LTS) version of Rails 8.x. This fork aims to be a welcoming and inclusive community that rejects bigotry and intolerance. The fork is designed to be compatible with existing Rails 8.x applications, making the switch relatively simple.

While Mosscap intends to maintain the familiar structure of Rails 6, 7, and 8, it acknowledges the need for improvements in areas such as the asset pipeline. The community welcomes those who wish to continue using Rails while promoting a diverse and inclusive environment.