So instead I'll disagree with you on Perl which I thought was one of those saner replacements for bash, especially when it comes to one liners. So what languages did you think I meant?
> Same reason C is still popular
I think the reasons behind C and bash staying power are different. Bash is here to stay because it is ingrained, literally embedded in the system and has a large user base. It doesn't offer anything unique that isn't available somewhere else. C is here to stay because it offers what other languages don't. There are new projects with no legacy concerns that still choose C.