Very interesting read. As with all inovations, the greatest achievements are usually the "side issues". The SoC, component frameworks, et al, helped improve the way we think about approaching the development of software. While that has little to do with web publication, the contributions to the development world are certainly there.

However, I do disagree in one area (see below)

Stefano Mazzocchi wrote:

I'll be honest that I am currently infatuated with Ruby and Ruby on Rails in particular, but it is more the way that they approach the problem of writing a web application. The contribution is the simplicity and power of convention over configuration. Think about it, all the reams of paper that the Cocoon configuration files and Sitemaps take up in XML are largely unnecessary in the Rails world because there is an intelligent default behavior. Just like Cocoon, the overarching principle of design behind that framework improves the development world. We may be reading something like your post about Rails in the future, nevertheless the underpinning design mindset can influence the process of writing great software.

Truth be told, I am less convinced about Mozilla as a platform than I am about either Cocoon or Rails. I don't doubt there is great power that the browser gives the developer and the user, but at the same time there is even less to help the poor newbie get emersed into that world. When I see a coherent Mozilla development environment I may change my mind. As of right now, there are new possibilities but the barrier of entry is still too high for the Mozilla as a platform.