What is the best scripting language to learn?

I use and like bash too. However, bash has no repository with bash packages, which can be downloaded and installed automatically by package manager, like Perl and CPAN, PHP and PEAR, Python and easy_install, Java and Maven/Ivy, JavaScript and NodeJS, or even Linux and apt/yum.

I understand that problem, so I use my own bash-modules system to speed-up development in bash (see http://vlisivka.pp.ua/en/bash_modules ), but number of modules is so tiny, so there is no sense to create repository for these modules.

I know this sounds a little crazy, but don't be afraid to pick up Python at the same time you're learning Ruby. I find Python and Ruby to be complementary languages. I fill more of a manager and sysadmin role in our organization (we're a RoR shop) than a developer, so I do a lot of scripting and less application writing. I write all of our server setup (bash), deployment automation (Ruby), and end-user automation scripts (Ruby/Python) for developers and staff members. My go-to language is Ruby, but mostly because I know it best. When I take the time to sit down with Python, I find its brevity (no end statements, braces, etc) to be a big productivity boost for times when you need to bang out some quick scripts. Even with an IDE that completes end statements for you, you have to manage those lines when you need to move things around. Python uses the same kind of natural language structure that makes writing code comfortable and very readable when you come back to it later.