> Still depends -- for example, if you just want to be able to contribute to the
> most FOSS possible, learn C. The vast majority of FOSS projects are in C,
> among them some of the better known. It might be nice to know some value of P
> in a "LAMP stack" -- Perl/PHP/Python/Ruby -- but pretty much the entire rest
> of the stack will be written in C. Maybe a bit of shell scripts, but the
> shell itself is written in C.

I see.

> If, on the other hand, you want to write brand new apps, from the ground up --
> or you want to interface with all these existing apps, but not actually patch
> them -- then Ruby is as good a choice as any.

Good to know.

> But these don't matter as much, since you've indicated a more academic
> curiosity -- you'll probably learn both anyway, and more.

Thank you, that is encouraging.

> I suspect that Ruby has more LISPisms than Python.

So have I read, so have I read . . . that is actually one of main
reasons (out of many) why I am interested in Ruby: a rather well known
Lisp hacker has on several instances expressed his opinion that Ruby
is quite similar to Lisp.

>Either would be good for
>GUI OS X apps and web apps.

Also good to know.