Software, like anything with money involved, tends to suffer from cargo cultism, but I think there's much more to it. Language ecosystems tend to be self-reinforcing in a cycle between developers and supporting libraries/tools.
Once Python got the edge in certain areas - particularly data processing - it was an upward spiral. The same can be said of JavaScript for webdev over Ruby and Python, with its special place at the heart of every browser.
I'm not entirely sure why Python got its initial edge for data processing. I think Google probably played a big role by sponsoring Guido and making it one of the key languages used internally and on App Engine. Ruby also had its share of drama and not everyone appreciates its "More than one way" (TMTOWTDI) philosophy.
Once Python got the edge in certain areas - particularly data processing - it was an upward spiral. The same can be said of JavaScript for webdev over Ruby and Python, with its special place at the heart of every browser.
I'm not entirely sure why Python got its initial edge for data processing. I think Google probably played a big role by sponsoring Guido and making it one of the key languages used internally and on App Engine. Ruby also had its share of drama and not everyone appreciates its "More than one way" (TMTOWTDI) philosophy.