The thing I like the most from the ruby page is the top box of content where it starts describing ruby with a "Read more..." link adjacent to a code snippet.  Because I doubt anyone will agree on *the one* best code snippet to show people, I think there should/could be a pool of fun snippets and loading the page picks one at random.  I have no idea if the wiki engine supports this.  I also like the strip of links at the top with things like, "Download", "Community", and so on.  Something I think the Haskell page does much better than the other two, is the listing of events and hackage updates.  Both of those sections feel "inviting" to me.  It makes me curious and I want to explore.

The python page looks at least as cluttered as the haskell page.  Neither the haskell page or the python page have the same look and feel of the ruby page.  I think the shaded/gradient backgrounds actually add a lot to the visual experience.  I also like that the boxes have a different bg color for the box title and the box contents.  I also like the use of icons on the ruby page.  The "Download Ruby" link/box with the download icon is very inviting.  I just want to download it, even if I'm not going to use ruby!

Perhaps we could have a contest similar to the logo contest but for homepage asthetics redesign.  I think the content on the haskell page is great, but the visual style of the presentation could be improved considerably.
 

Optimizing for newcomers seems wise.