- It was the only way to throw together a webapp easily for a long time.
- It is actually pretty efficient for this purpose.
- Much later Python and Node became viable alternatives.
- As soon as they did, people started shifting to them, and today few people would start a new project in PHP.
So according to my (not very informed) understanding, the history of PHP supports my claim that inherent quality (relative tot he alternatives) is more important than network effects.
(Note that I'm not saying you're accurate in your assessment as to reasons why PHP became popular, just that your reasoning as to why it has inherent quality is interesting)
i kinda think that google got a 100% monopoly because at the time they were the best search engine (and remained so). and as soon as someone comes along who is better, the monopoly will end (i use ddg but i'll admit it's not as good. i like some of the cool hacks and features so i'm trying to stick with it). am i wrong?
Emphasis on -best-. Compared to all the others. I.e., altavista, yahoo, ask.com, msn, lycos, infoseek, etc". Google came into the party late, and -displaced- the existing players, by offering a superior product.
Swatow stated that when PHP came on the scene it was the "only way to throw together a website easily", that it's now being displaced by other tech, but because for a time it was the only way to do it easily, it somehow had inherent quality. That would be like saying that because Archie was the first search engine, it had inherent quality.
At the risk of sounding like I'm doubting you, I honestly think you have no idea what you're talking about.