[marcloney]

PHP has a much larger install base on commercial web hosts than Ruby, so I would consider it a perfect tool for a self-hosted application.

Also keep in mind PHP5 is not the same relic of the past that people constantly bitch about.

[samuellevy]

I'm just hoping PHP 5.4 adoption starts picking up. As it is, it's hard enough finding shared hosts that support 5.3

[balac]

With the ever decreasing prices of VPSs these days (both Digital Ocean & Prgrmr offer a $5/month VPS) I really don't see much need for an experienced developer to pick using a shared host.

[marcloney]

We're not necessarily talking about "experienced" developers. I know plenty of people who have set up their own self-hosted WordPress instances for their personal blogs who don't know how to how to self-manage a VPS.

Keep in mind not everyone who uses or even installs software is an "experienced developer".

[samuellevy]

It often depends on a customers needs. A VPS is fine if you're willing/able to set up and manage s server yourself. If you're not in a position to do that, then it's managed shared hosting or business hosting. Both are at the mercy of what the hosting provider feels is best.