This is a question of the type "give me the problem scope first". Each language has its own strengths and weaknesses:
1) Developers: Finding a PHP dev is easy. Nearly everyone doing web development speaks PHP. The problem is the quality. NodeJS is a damn new technology, but as it's JS, you have a wide pool of talent there. RoR/Python are still rather "exotic", and the competition is high for employers.
2) Scope of the project: Web-based project with most stuff done in backend? Go for PHP. Web-based project with loads of small backend stuff? Frontend HTML+JS, backend NodeJS. Web-based and desktop-based? Go for Python. Want to have your server hacked? Get Ruby. (Disclaimer: PHP+Python fanboy speaking)
3) Cost of hiring, cost of maintenance, server cost: If you have loads of money for servers, add the memory hog Java to your list. If you're short on money, there's only PHP as any cheap-ass or freehoster will have it. Once more, take the question "What do I want to achieve?" into hand.
Without knowing what you want to do, we can not give you a clear advice.
1) Developers: Finding a PHP dev is easy. Nearly everyone doing web development speaks PHP. The problem is the quality. NodeJS is a damn new technology, but as it's JS, you have a wide pool of talent there. RoR/Python are still rather "exotic", and the competition is high for employers.
2) Scope of the project: Web-based project with most stuff done in backend? Go for PHP. Web-based project with loads of small backend stuff? Frontend HTML+JS, backend NodeJS. Web-based and desktop-based? Go for Python. Want to have your server hacked? Get Ruby. (Disclaimer: PHP+Python fanboy speaking)
3) Cost of hiring, cost of maintenance, server cost: If you have loads of money for servers, add the memory hog Java to your list. If you're short on money, there's only PHP as any cheap-ass or freehoster will have it. Once more, take the question "What do I want to achieve?" into hand.
Without knowing what you want to do, we can not give you a clear advice.