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

[Fernando Pereira]

On 12/1/02 2:12 PM, in article fankuu0gi544ah4cs9n1j0qtt57ba6ncog at 4ax.com,
"Courageous" <jkraska at san.rr.com> wrote:
> Languages which _require_ special
> editors are essentially dead in the marketplace.
According to this argument, VB and other MS languages and language
implementations should be a-moldering in their graves.

This argument has mostly been post-hoc guesswork. It's much more likely that
the problems were that Lisp failed to grab mindshare when it could because
of the ridiculous fragmentation of the community (back to MACLISP vs.
Interlisp), the lack of good free implementations, and the belief among Lisp
promoters that *everything* should be done in Lisp, leading lack of
interoperability with other languages. In summary, Lispers were their own
worst enemies, and lacked a BDFL to kick some sense into them.

-- F