Slashdot is running a story about the recent PHP and Apache 2 discussion - Is Apache 2.0 Worth the Switch for PHP?. I feel compelled to clarify (and support) Rich's main point, because it seems to be missed by quite a few people.

He believes that we shouldn't be actively discouraging people from upgrading to Apache 2. Otherwise, we should work together to fix whatever problems exist. This is mostly a reaction to the PHP documentation, which states:

Do not use Apache 2.0.x and PHP in a production environment neither on Unix nor on Windows.

To be fair, Apache 2 is more proven than PHP 5, but there doesn't seem to be the same level of discouragement for upgrading to PHP 5. In short, I think Rich has a point. Let people decide for themselves whether something is stable enough for their needs. Opinions expressed in the PHP documentation seem more authoritative than suggestive.

This has nothing to do with whether there is a compelling reason to upgrade to Apache 2 or whether PHP can guarantee thread safety - the question being raised is whether there is a compelling reason not to use Apache 2 with PHP, and if there is, what is it?

I personally think Rich has nothing but good intentions and wants to see PHP and Apache 2 working as well together as PHP and Apache always have.

More information:

• PHP Internals Discussion
• John Coggeshall's "Two Cents"
• Rich Bowen's Response