I absolutely agree !!
I hate C++ too, but as you said , there is no real alternative for it. Mixing C and python is a good idea ,but real world applications in my area (computer vision) use C++ widely ...
In my opinion,"Python+Scipy+Matplotlib" can replace the "equal" libs in MATLAB. I had the same problem with python when I decided to develop a face detection software by useing Neural Networks ! In that period of time, there were no complete N.N. lib for python. I don't think that there is any comprehensive one too.
long story short, if you want to stick to some small libs, that mixture is OK. But if you want to develop your field (like blending NN and DIP) you will fall in trouble ....
As a solution, you can mix python and libs like OpenCV for computer vision and image processing . Check pyOpencv too :)
Nice job man :)
I'm working on the same project too. But my focus has been on Recognition more. Detection is a good approach to finding faces in photos (and hence faster queries), but you will understand that if you want to be successful in real world, you HAVE to extend your software to do more amazing thing :)
So:
1- Extend your system for Linux and Windows platforms as soon as possible.
2- Start to stretch its capabilities to recognize faces too.