Are Python-based web frameworks reliable enough?

[Gilles Ganault]

Hello

	Until now, the modest web apps I wrote were all in PHP because it's
available on just about any hosted server.

I now have a couple of ideas for applications where I would deploy my
own servers, so that I'd rather write them in Python because I find
the language more pleasant to write with.

I read that the traction for the mod_python module isn't as strong as
mod_php, so I guess I should consider the alternative, which is
writing a long-running process with some framework like TurboGears or
Django.

To make an informed choice, I'd like your feedback on this:

1. Is mod_python a bad choice today? If yes, are there other PHP-like
modules available, ie. the Python code is hosted in pages that are
loaded every time a user calls them?

2. If you think I should consider long-running processes, are the
frameworks reliable enough so that I shouldn't fear crashes every so
often?

3. What about performance as compared to equivalent PHP/MySQL apps?

Thank  you for any feedback.