Is Python as capable as Perl for sysadmin work?

[Aahz]

In article <pan.2005.02.08.04.01.16.605059 at yahooz.com>,
John M. Gabriele <john_sips_teaz at yahooz.com> wrote:
>
>For sysadmin-related tasks, is Python as useful as Perl, or does it get
>clumsy when often dealing with the stuff admins deal with on a regular
>basis?
>
>At some point during some dingy job in the back boiler room of Unix,
>would you find yourself saying, "geez, I'd wish I started this with
>Perl -- Python just isn't cutting it." ?

Not likely.  I'm a programmer, not a sysadmin, but my company's too
small for a sysadmin, so I and the other two programmers get elected.
(For example, today most of my time was spent hunting down kernel
patches for Red Hat 7.3 -- long story.)

Anyway.  Have you ever noticed how shell scripts keep getting longer?
Ever notice how it gets harder to figure out what the heck any given
script's doing?  Well, that's where Python helps you out compared to
Perl.  Python can be a bit clumsier than Perl for dirt-simple tasks, but
you'll find that Python scales much better than Perl.
-- 
Aahz (aahz at pythoncraft.com)           <*>         http://www.pythoncraft.com/

"The joy of coding Python should be in seeing short, concise, readable
classes that express a lot of action in a small amount of clear code -- 
not in reams of trivial code that bores the reader to death."  --GvR