Yeah, same experience for me. Lots of fragile and bloated code bases. And I don't tell you about maintainability nightmare. Javascript in the server is another example.

So this is not the fact that PHP people can write useful things with it or that PHP can help them to put food on the table, etc.

Here some questions not only for PHP enthusiasts: Are you using the right tool for the job? If so, Are you do it well? Are those programs that you write easy to maintain over the time? Is the language providing you the necessary mechanisms to help you to do so?