For me PHP is exactly like IE6, it completly shaped web programming as we know it, and will have a true resilience, before dying, inevitably (disclamer: I used PHP from 2000 to 2009 , then switched to rails on a daily bases).
It is 4 time more verbose than rails and not fully compliant. Laravel is purefect for people knowing only PHP, it is a real nightmare for rubyist. ;(