I admit, PHP sucks. But there is one thing it has going for it. It's simple to configure and secure a server that your general userbase can run applications on. I work at ITECS, the Engineering IT department at NC State University. ITECS is responsible for maintaining the server infrastructure for dozens upon dozens of university Web sites, most of which have dynamic content. Not to mention the people server, which anyone affiliated with the College of Engineering can get directory space and a MySQL database on.

I was once talking to our Systems people about, why not allow Python applications. They said that every time they have experimented with allowing CGI scripts in any language supported by their Web servers, someone has always found a way to exploit their sandbox. With PHP, the applications can still get exploited, but they have never had a breach that affects the servers themselves.

So if you're a startup or a major tech company who can spend time customizing a Web server and trust everyone who has access to it, then you're crazy for using PHP. But if you're a college with 8,000 students, almost 1,000 faculty, and a bunch of support staff in addition, and a good quarter of them need Web sites, PHP's pretty much the only option that will keep you sane.

In my opinion, that's something that seriously needs fixing. But it's certainly an explanation for why PHP is still around now.