From: Chris Pine Date: 2003-05-06T03:55:03+09:00 Subject: Re: Why is PHP so popular? What can we learn from the PHP camp? ----- Original Message ----- From: "Phil Tomson" >Which hints to the other reason PHP is so popular: Marketing and cost. Why >is Taco Bell more popular than El Palenque (on SE 17th; check it out, Phil)? I'll check it out... SE 17th and what's the cross street? ---------------------------- A few blocks south of Tacoma. Try the plantain w/ mole for dessert! ---------------------------- >Taco Bell doesn't have to be good. It just has to be OK, cheap, and easy. and the fact that it's readily available doeesn't hurt either. ---------------------------- That fits under the "easy" category, I think. ---------------------------- Now to really stretch the analogy: Baja Fresh probably employs a lot more people than El Palenque. That doesn't make one better or worse than the other, but do you see where I'm going? ---------------------------- Absolutely, and that's an excellent point: in this analogy, are we looking for a good tamale or a job? Customer or employee? In programming, I guess we are often both... but, as you pointed out, that's really where my analogy breaks down. ---------------------------- Maybe, but PHP started out just like Ruby did, no? It was a free/open source language. As far as marketing goes, I don't think they had any corporate funding for marketing, did they? ---------------------------- Well, I meant marketing in a rather loose way: who was their target audience, and how were they pitching the "essence" of PHP? A: It was a web language for web people. The success of this hinged upon the fact that they were targetting people who *weren't* programmers, IMHO. I don't think it's something we could emulate. ---------------------------- BTW: it's amazing that what amounts to a fairly minor holiday in Mexico is a five day celebration here in Portland, OR - any excuse for a party, I guess. The 4th of July isn't even celebrated for five days. ---------------------------- It's all about the margaritas, tequila, and Negra Modelo! I'll tell you, it's hurting having a pregnant wife during Cinco de Mayo... no drinking in the Pine house, I'm afraid. Chris