the reasons for moving to python are severalfold:
- nodejs apps are annoying to maintain and deploy, as there is too much churn in the nodejs ecosystem
- backend devs don't like writing javascript, but don't seem to mind writing python
- writing an app just for sybil lets us move past old baggage of supporting mongodb and postgres
- write an easy to deploy UI for browsing data kept in sybil
- make it easy to extend and write new views
- make an app that is easy to white label (and self host inside organizations)
- re-use as much work from original snorkel while keeping the implementation clean
- minimize external dependencies: use sqlite for data store, flask for web, etc