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

[Jens Axel Søgaard]

Alex Martelli wrote:

> It's exactly BECAUSE every newcomer longs for some weird set of feechurs 
> that are better done without, that a language that lets such newcomers add 
> all the weird things, changing the language itself and turning it from a 
> (hopefully) well-designed whole to a hodge-podge, is not going to be 
> popular with the masses.  Some brilliant individuals -- a tiny minority -- 
> are no doubt going to use such power wonderfully well, building several 
> different complex, specialized languages.  The rest of us, the vast 
> majority of the human race, is BY FAR best served by having to use one 
> well-designed language rather than by letting each make up their own.

Theoretically this could be true. In practice everybody follows the 
conventions.