[jonny_eh]

Why do people choose python or ruby to write command line apps over traditional languages like BASH, PERL, and C?

[Crito]

The primary argument against node.js (and perhaps ruby) AFAIC is that many users will not already have it installed. Python/Perl/Bash you can count on all users having. C is a fine choice, but of course requires more packaging to be user friendly.

I've used zsh as my interactive shell for years, but I always still write bash scripts instead of zsh scripts. You can count on bash scripts running just about anywhere.

[rsync]

Exactly - I read:

"Why do people choose JavaScript/node.js to write command line apps over traditional languages for that task like python or ruby?"

and was agreeing with the first part of the sentence and then laughed out loud at the end ...

Are we really in a world where ruby is the old school traditionalist way to write unix utilities ?

[exelius]

I was working with Capistrano almost a decade ago when it was called SwitchTower, so yeah -- it is kind of old school considering most "startup" developers are under 30.

[EpicEng]

Because they don't know BASH or Perl and writing a Ruby/Python script is more often than not faster and easier than doing the equivalent in C?