Why is Python popular, while Lisp and Scheme aren't?

[Patrick W]

maney at pobox.com writes:

> examples) and it may be considerable.  Lisp is, if not unique, still
> unusual in that it has a second speed bump, because its syntax is
> extremely awkward to deal with until you've acclimated to a suitable
> IDE or syntax-aware editor.  This conceptually unnecessary additional
> barrier to entry must surely help hold down the rate at which new
> converts make it through to become happy Lisp users.

You imply that a struggle with Lisp's syntax is inevitable for
newbies, but that definitely was *not* the case for me.  I came to
Lisp from C, C++, Eiffel, Delphi and a few other languages that bear
not the slightest resemblance to Lisp.  From day one, Lisp's syntax
seemed simple and straightforward; I never found it awkward at all,
let alone "extremely awkward".  On the contrary, it 'felt'
frictionless to my mind, quite unlike other languages I've learned.

What I find hard to understand is why anybody finds s-expressions a
conceptual challenge.  If I hadn't seen evidence to the contrary, I'd
believe that anyone who can't grok s-expressions in a day is just too
stupid to program *anything*.