If you are interested in platform independence, why even bother with the Unix utilities? You can accomplish the same with Python, have results that are more readable to the non-Unix crowd, and not rely upon sometimes esoteric knowledge of the Unix utilities (and the inconsistencies between vendors).

That isn't to say that the Unix utilities are without merit. I have used them extensively for similar tasks. That being said, it is in environments where everyone used some version of Unix (typically Linux, Solaris, or Mac OS X).

> If you are interested in platform independence, why even bother with the Unix utilities? You can accomplish the same with Python,

Because then you're also looking at getting people using the same version of python and your dependencies - and it's likely slower.

> That being said, it is in environments where everyone used some version of Unix (typically Linux, Solaris, or Mac OS X).

If only there was a technology aimed at sharing an exact same version for easy use ;)

Would it not work in WSL though? If you wanted windows support.

Sure. It was just an idea why docker was choosen :)

Yep, they all come with WSL, since you basically install Ubuntu (or another WSL-compatible distro).