Hi there - this is Jason - the guy who wrote the original post. I just found this forum with comments via a Google search. Actually, the only place I posted a link was on a moderated Django Google group. The linking and commentary came as a surprise to me - I wasn't really sure anyone would read it! Not sure who posted it to Hacker News.
He wanted to feel more like a hacker, and rails hid (of course by hide he means publishing the source code) too much of it's magic.
In fact, I think publishing an article on Rails v.s. Django and posting it to Hacker News stinks of SEO.