[eggie]

I guess you could also say that CS is one of those "applied math" fields :)

Seriously though, this kind platform is a critical component in scientific reproducibility. The dream is that we can have code, data, and the results of the composition of the two in the same revision control system. A minimal layer to allow the execution of linux software would support the use of legacy code and binaries in this new platform. Javascript has its advantages, but it's a waste to build a data RCS and require all functions on the data to be written in it.

And to go a bit further, it's not just for science. For example, you could write a HN clone in dat. I could fork it and get both your code and all the posts.