[sasha-dv]

>People who write Python choose to write Python.

People who write X choose to write X.

There's virtually no language that can't fit the bill. It may surprise some, but there are people who choose to write Java, Perl, C, and even C++.

edit: Didn't realize that people who choose a language different than Python aren't actually people.

[rprospero]

The following statement is false:

    People who write LabTalk choose to write LabTalk.

It is false because I am a person who writes LabTalk and I did not choose to write LabTalk. I hate LabTalk with a passion. However, I am forced to write LabTalk to interface with one of the systems at work. The following statement is also false:

    People who write Tcl choose to write Tcl.

I had a coworker who was forced to learn Tcl to maintain a legacy system. He hated Tcl, mostly because it wasn't Fortran. Honestly, though, I have a soft spot for Tcl, so the following statement is true:

   Some people who write Tcl choose to write Tcl.

Now that statement is trivially true and most of your original argument applies to it. In fact, I'll even agree with you that

    Some people who write X choose to write X

applies to virtually every language. All people who write a language different than Python are people. The original statement does not make that claim. It makes the claim that the set of people who write python does not contain any elements from the set of people who did not choose to write python. That claim is not true for Java, Perl, C, C++, LabTalk, or Tcl. It may not even be true for Python. However, it is a meaningful claim.

[sasha-dv]

>That claim is not true for Java, Perl, C, C++, LabTalk, or Tcl.

Sure, it's not true for any of them, even Python, but it's meaningful for any language including Java, Perl, C, C++,...

It's easy to forget that computing is a huge field and that hackers diverse in their tastes and fetishes.

[johndcook]

I suppose there are degrees of how free your choices are. Do people choose to use JavaScript for client-side scripting? Technically you have other options, but most people write JavaScript whether they like it or not.

I often write R, not because I want to, but because I'm working with people who don't know any other language. In that case I choose to write R, but that doesn't mean I'm happy about it.

[sasha-dv]

I agree.

I was just pointing out that what you said about Python I could say about Ruby or Perl, some other guy about C++, ...

For example, I hate significant white space and if I had to use Python I would be miserable, but for you it's the best language in the world.

Sure, we can argue about what percent of the total users of a given language would use it if they had a freedom to choose a different one.

[johndcook]

Another way to put it would be to say that some languages are easier to avoid than others. I claim that it's easier to avoid Python than it is to avoid, for example, JavaScript.

[bryze]

Really? Name high-performance systems programming languages besides C and C++ because I'd really love to switch.

[sasha-dv]

Do you read English?

edit: I can't reply to your reply so here it is:

My point is that People who write Python choose to write Python. is as true as People who write X choose to write X.

My claim is not that "Everybody who writes X chooses to write X"

[bryze]

Damn.. Here, I was hoping you actually knew of an alternative, because I, for one, wish I had choices for system-level programming.

[kibwen]

"System-level" as in embedded systems? Kernels? Or high-performance applications?