OpenSource PHP dead?

Posted: Sun Nov 30, 2008 8:38 am

While i did my daily forum cruising on many websites it hit me: is PHP dead?

Every PHP script is screaming out loud: "we already have X downloads!"
But, how many of those are upgrades or even actually used for new websites?

Personally i think the second because many forums are stalled!
Same people asking the same questions but hardly i see new people nor massive new posts anymore.

In the past i open a forum and see "new" icons everywhere i look and now they're gone.

So, is PHP dead or is it the internet as a whole?
Or is it the money crisis and people can't afford it anymore?
Or did everyone has his share and the internet became to bloated?

registered · Site Admin Joined: Jun 04, 2004 Posts: 6437

Not sure I see the connection, djmaze. Whether or not a download is used for an upgrade or a new site doesn't necessary connect to the script being dead. Maybe one download is used to upgrade several sites and create several others. Without some sort of tracking, there is no way to tell.

As for stalled forums, I'm not sure that's an accurate way to predict the end of life for PHP, either, unless you're talking about PHP-related forums. But even fewer new PHP-related forum posts may not indicate death, but possibly maturity.

I don't see a huge migration to other languages on Hotscripts.com or Sourceforge.net, which would be a good indication that PHP is losing favor among script developers.

Posted: Sun Nov 30, 2008 4:07 pm

Well yeah, i didn't say nobody is programming... At least I am! Wink

I have my own thoughts about this and i think the problem lays in the boundaries of old servers.
Everyone is hopping in PHP5 (dаmn good they are), but hosts still don't upgrade. Either due to money, other priorities, Ubuntu 6 LTS or other reasons.
And because of that people can't run the new scripts. So, will it have a boost in the new year?

Posted: Sun Nov 30, 2008 9:17 pm

Most of the hosts I've seen support PHP5, so hopefully it will have a boost.

Site Admin/Owner Joined: Aug 27, 2002 Posts: 17088

Your title is very revealing. You ask "OpenSource PHP dead?". I notice you are not implying nor asking the question "is PHP dead" Wink

I have actually been musing on this myself for several months. Only to me it is much more personal: "is ?nuke dead" (? stands for any and all derivatives of nuke). Oh, we've had this discussion for 4 or 5 years if not longer so it's nothing new. But now, it has taken on an even larger slant as you correctly state, imo, "is Open Source PHP dead" or I might wonder if Open Source PHP applications are being written with a target base of the general public rather than niche groups?

I see a plethora of IDE's, Frameworks, Libraries, etc. out there and in progress, but to what end? So, now I can rewrite RavenNuke(tm) and use these new tools, but to what end; Seriously? Does the community really care? Not according to my donations! Today, I went on an exploration of many sites and compared, where possible, Google P/R, Alexa ranking, and Donations. Right now, RavenPhpScripts.com has a P/R of 6 and an Alexa ranking of 80,528*. I don't put a lot of stock in these other than a comparison measurement but those numbers are higher than most sites of like kind. But, when it comes to donations I'm not close. There are gaming sites that have P/R of 2 and 3, an Alexa ranking of 358,000* and donations of a whole lot more, consistently. Now I know it's comparing apples and oranges because of the target audience but the kicker is that most, if not all, of the sites are using a derivative of nuke and often RavenNuke(tm). I've said it too many times but I'll say it again. If each user of RavenNuke(tm) would donate $1/month I could easily reach my goal. $2 up to $5 per month would be fantastic and alleviate all doubts about keeping this site and RavenNuke(tm) alive!

Okay, I've drifted and I'll try to get back on track. I used to be an advocate of Free and Open Source. Now I am not. If the "community" really does want/need free open source applications then they need to rethink the consequences of the death of more sites and application support. I know that I am not alone in this thought process.

Posted: Mon Dec 01, 2008 10:01 pm

Raven,
I had this same issue this past month. I posted a Donations thread.....and my members filled the basket. Thank goodness too. Between the economy and weather....Santa is going to be a little stingy this year. My point is....from time to time...you have to say HEY...YOU....a little help here please! I am sure your members are happy to help...even if the are "Forgetful".

Dawg

Posted: Tue Dec 02, 2008 6:02 pm

djmaze I ´m quite sure the "money crisis" isn´t the main reason.
For example I know that the most of my users, wich discovered the freedom to run own sites with open source, are just too young to have a own PayPal account.
They are limited to use free webspace and there often scripts don´t run like on a paid host.
I´ve never heard before of such a high number of new created sites from my members like this year. It was a very special year.
I´m talking about games sites and scripts and not Nuke.