Question

I would like to be able to run ruby and perl scripts from build.xml in ant.

Answer 1

You can always use the ant`s exec task to run arbitrary programs, such as ruby and perl. For example and from the docs:

<target name="help">
  <exec executable="cmd">
    <arg value="/c"/>
    <arg value="ant.bat"/>
    <arg value="-p"/>
  </exec>
</target>