Plenty of opportunities. The alternatives could just have created a mod_php equivalent. I can't imagine ISPs "closing the doors" to newcomer languages, the mark

Plenty of opportunities. The alternatives could just have created a mod_php equivalent. I can't imagine ISPs "closing the doors" to newcomer languages, the market should have been competitive enough to allow for penetration. The thing is that productivity of a language depends on many factors, including many softer ones that are typically forgotten or discounted by language geeks. It also depends on the target audience. In some important ways, PHP was/is brilliant. A technically brilliant language should be able to recognize the adoption driver mechanisms and build the necessary infrastructure. The point of a language is not (only) to build a theoretically sound framework, but to be an ergonomic vehicle for expression of ideas.