Should I use Python?

[Grant]

I have been creating some useful utilities in java and now find other
people I work with also wish to use them. Problem is they are
applications and require the java runtime environment to be installed.

I would prefer  to be able to write the utilities on Linux as I do now.
The file created must be able to be run by others  on NT machines -
either from a server or from their own machines. It should not require
any additonal setup or libraries to install, and will  need to read from
remote servers on a local network, reading and parsing files.

Would Python be the best choice?Any other suggestions?