The python-Package "invoke" is used in several places on the code. As far as I see on a quick glimpse, it does nothing that subprocess wouldn't also do.
The difference is that subprocess is tested and integrated into python core. Invoke has several issues that catch my attention (being alpha stage with explicit warnigns that API might change at will, emulating far more than is sane for something running inside python (sudo!?)).
Also, on an install with non-pip methods, I would need to manually package invoke.
I heard that up to now, ringo worked without having invoke installed, which is a mystery to me, as on my test install, it didn't work without.
edit: See also #74 (PR for this issue)