4 ms·

Seems that way. Unfortunately, this kills the #1 reason to use PHP: Easy deployment on almost any web host.

TallGuyShort 9y ago
It would seem deploying on cloud infrastructure is more popular now than traditional web hosts. I would suggest that perhaps it's no longer that "the #1 reason to use PHP == deployment" but that "the #1 reason to KEEP using PHP == huge but stable codebase + fear of forgetting important things in a reimplementation". A few years ago I considered HHVM because it could give us a big performance boost with little effort while we worked on longer term migration. Switching the runtime really was a viable and valuable option to consider.
- chipotle_coyote 9y ago
  * It would seem deploying on cloud infrastructure is more popular now than traditional web hosts.* This depends on who your target audience is. I've been toying around with the idea of writing a modern blogging engine[1] and have come to the conclusion that if I actually wanted to do that and wanted to be able to target the same kinds of folks who would otherwise be installing WordPress, I probably need to stick to PHP. Not only are there still more people on traditional web hosts than you might think (I'm always surprised by this when I talk to friends outside, and even sometimes inside, the technosphere), there's an awful lot of people who use cloud infrastructure by clicking the "install Ubuntu with a LAMP stack" button. I suppose technically I could provide a Docker image and include instructions on how to install that, like Discourse does, but that sounds...fraught. [1] Yes, yes, I know, but I always liked Ghost's original "we want to focus on being a great blogging platform, not a CMS like WordPress has become" manifesto. Since they kicked that to the curb and said "fuck yeah CMS, baby," I'd kinda like someone else to pick up the baton. (Static web site generators are awesome if they fit your use case, but that use case isn't everyone's.)
  - johnonolan 9y ago
    > Since they kicked that to the curb and said "fuck yeah CMS, baby," This literally never happened, but ok? > have come to the conclusion that if I actually wanted to do that and wanted to be able to target the same kinds of folks who would otherwise be installing WordPress, I probably need to stick to PHP I'd agree with that. But plenty of people already doing it, eg. https://craftcms.com https://craftcms.com
krapp 9y ago
Yeah, I really like Hack as a language, it's basically everything I want PHP to be, but finding a free host for test projects has been a pain.

It would seem deploying on cloud infrastructure is more popular now than traditional web hosts. I would suggest that perhaps it's no longer that "the #1 reason to use PHP == deployment" but that "the #1 reason to KEEP using PHP == huge but stable codebase + fear of forgetting important things in a reimplementation". A few years ago I considered HHVM because it could give us a big performance boost with little effort while we worked on longer term migration. Switching the runtime really was a viable and valuable option to consider.

chipotle_coyote 9y ago
* It would seem deploying on cloud infrastructure is more popular now than traditional web hosts.* This depends on who your target audience is. I've been toying around with the idea of writing a modern blogging engine[1] and have come to the conclusion that if I actually wanted to do that and wanted to be able to target the same kinds of folks who would otherwise be installing WordPress, I probably need to stick to PHP. Not only are there still more people on traditional web hosts than you might think (I'm always surprised by this when I talk to friends outside, and even sometimes inside, the technosphere), there's an awful lot of people who use cloud infrastructure by clicking the "install Ubuntu with a LAMP stack" button. I suppose technically I could provide a Docker image and include instructions on how to install that, like Discourse does, but that sounds...fraught. [1] Yes, yes, I know, but I always liked Ghost's original "we want to focus on being a great blogging platform, not a CMS like WordPress has become" manifesto. Since they kicked that to the curb and said "fuck yeah CMS, baby," I'd kinda like someone else to pick up the baton. (Static web site generators are awesome if they fit your use case, but that use case isn't everyone's.)
- johnonolan 9y ago
  > Since they kicked that to the curb and said "fuck yeah CMS, baby," This literally never happened, but ok? > have come to the conclusion that if I actually wanted to do that and wanted to be able to target the same kinds of folks who would otherwise be installing WordPress, I probably need to stick to PHP I'd agree with that. But plenty of people already doing it, eg. https://craftcms.com https://craftcms.com

krapp 9y ago

Yeah, I really like Hack as a language, it's basically everything I want PHP to be, but finding a free host for test projects has been a pain.