Why only PHP based CMS's?

After reading through quite a few posts in the CMS area here at DP it seems everyone is recommending PHP based solutions. My question is this; Why is everyone using PHP solutions when there are more powerful free solutions such as DNN (Dot Net Nuke) based on ASP.net?

I understand that hosting a .Net website usually costs more (assuming you're going through a hosting provider), but is that the sole reason people are using and recommending PHP content management systems?

 

all hosting companies support PHP/MySQL. Only a fraction of them support JSP or ASP

 

You also have the option to choose your hosting provider, so I'm not so sure that's why the majority of the members here are using PHP based CMS

 

Most people on this forum will be using PHP (and PHP CMS). Ask the question on an asp forum and the answers will be different.

Oops Just saw your post! The 'why' is because PHP offers the easiest ( & cheapest) way into dynamic websites. Most people stick with what they started with. Also much more open source is PHP-derived.

Also should add I use asp, and use my own CMS (because nothing quite does everything I want).

Mick

 

That is the question. Why PHP over technologies like ASP.net?

 

Edits in my previous post

 

Becasue php is easier to learn , everybody is now 'php developer'

 

The overhead on a .NET application from development to hosting is much higher. I am not saying it is better or worse, just takes more skill and money.

 

These reasons are also why you don't see much about plone. Even for the (growing number of) hosts that provide python support, getting plone to work is (in my limited experience) problematic.

OTOH, I also see very few posts here about ezPublish. Even though it's PHP-based, getting it to install/run can be a nightmare. (The hosts on which I tried it wouldn't relax their php.ini settings as far as it requires).

[EDIT: The very next thread I read after this one turned out to have an entry about plone. I felt that, in the interest of honesty, I should admit this]

 

Just my input, but...

PHP/MySQL based applications are efficient, scalable, affordable (often free), easily modified and secure (with due diligence applied). Also, they tend to require very little (if any) support from hosting providers beyond normal server maintenance. Add in a basic (or advanced) templating engine and they allow even the least tech-minded individuals to run and even customize their sites without having to learn to program.

Perl solutions (and I don't mean to offend any Perl followers) tend to degrade as application size expands in my experience. Perl simply wasn't initially intended to be a web scripting language and that shows with larger applications, though advances have been made to make the language more web-suitable over time, it still lacks in some ways. I use Perl as an 'addition' to my PHP applications, because there are some things Perl does better--but I wouldn't use it as the foundation for a front-end program.

Python, Ruby and other similars offer huge potential and great speed, but at this point in time the advantages offered are only really noticeable on enterprise applications. They're lost on the basic CMS, forum board, portal or other such application because the end user isn't going to notice the difference over their dial-up/DSL/cable connections and a well-coded PHP/MySQL program run from an up-to-date server will be just as fast to the end user without straining server resources. So, I guess I'm saying these languages are overkill on smaller applications, and given that they require special server-side support and aren't as widely used by coders it doesn't make much sense to use them.

When you move out of the open source realm, for the home-based webmaster/business or even small businesses the additional costs for higher server fees, software licenses (when applicable) have a negative effect. Also, they don't tend to be mod-friendly for non-programmers. Just the few freeware .NET applications I've worked with in the past have been a nightmare to code on. If you can't get by with the program as is out of the box you had better have a background in Windows API, and how many people run their CMS/portal/forum in out of the box condition?

So, I suppose for the average webmaster/small business who wants the quickest, easiest and most affordable option, PHP/MySQL based applications fill this need better than any others. Which would be why on non language specific forums like DP here, you'll notice they get discussed and recommended more than others.

Okay, I've rambled on enough,
Scott

 

I think DNN is inferior to Joomla, when it comes to CMS solutions. For that matter, maybe Drupal is better too, if you're a good programmer.

So in my opinion, PHP has the more powerful free solutions.

-Tony

 

yeah mambo / joomla was a revelation to me earlier we had to manually edit files to add hacks / mods etc. joomla just uploaded a ZIP file and automatically it installed. no mess no fuss. no files to edit. being a ZIP, less time to upload too
also to use .Net solutions dont u need a windows server? those are costly. on the other hand if you have a linux box and good bandwidth, you have your own server
another very important point is php/mysql is FREE. and the offer comparable performance to other technologies