It's a bit like saying "I see a lot of women have jobs these days - does that mean that feminism is more than just a fad?" You're not going to get any helpful responses if you ask something inflammatory (and I think it shows maturity that no-one's flamed you).
Anyway, what would you gain from asking a bunch of Ruby developers whether Ruby is "just a fad"? This is hardly the best venue for that question.
Incidentally, I didn't downvote you, just thought I'd try to explain why nobody responded to you.
I downvoted you because you weren't asking an honest question and that adds nothing to the thread.
Posting an inflammatory response in tandem with a question already loaded with rhetoric ("fad", "serious tool") isn't going to spur interesting or valuable debate because you've shown you're already cemented into your position before you even started.
Erm... I believe it's pretty popular in web-land, has been for some time, and remains so.
Though I have no personal evidence for any of that ;) - I have never used Ruby, I don't know anybody in real life that does, and in fact aside from three or four mentions-in-passing I have never heard anybody even talk about it. Different worlds, I guess.
EDIT: Why am I reading a Ruby article, then? That's easy... just avoiding a bit of work. Maybe I'd find that it had done something interesting.
Anyway, what would you gain from asking a bunch of Ruby developers whether Ruby is "just a fad"? This is hardly the best venue for that question.
Incidentally, I didn't downvote you, just thought I'd try to explain why nobody responded to you.