I like Derby over Meteor, without question. But Derby is still sorely lacking in server-side logic, particularly auth, which is what drove my Derby project to a halt. What non-trivial apps can one build without any private or authenticated data whatsoever?
Supposedly these features are coming, and I sincerely hope that derby matures into a real-world tool. The RacerJS tech is amazing, and the library is fun to work with.
We understand that authentication and authorization are critical, and we have been ironing our issues with them using the app that we are developing as a first test. Pretty much all of the required code is already in master, and an example is forthcoming.
Details? My understanding is that derby functions are able to run both on the client and the server, and have access to all data. When I last looked at it (it's been almost a year, if not more), there was no way to use Derby's features without being highly promiscuous with data.
Supposedly these features are coming, and I sincerely hope that derby matures into a real-world tool. The RacerJS tech is amazing, and the library is fun to work with.