…my web host to support PHP5. They do have it on a few servers, but those are all full. The reason why PHP5 isn’t on all servers is this:
php5 setups were abandoned because they’re not yet supported natively by DirectAdmin. Currently DirectAdmin requires an initial install of php4 – then a patch / upgrade to php5 – which, IF it works right the first time, takes 2-3 hours because of missing dependencies, versions, etc.
Until that upgrade/install path is perfected with DirectAdmin, and a solid future path is lined up, I refuse to “patch” boxes to make them work. I want them to work out of the box – and then perform upgrades as needed.
I really like my host a lot because they always offer great deals and have excellent support. So I’m going to stick with them and wait until they offer PHP5 on all servers instead of moving to a new host. It’s really hard to find a GOOD host and I really don’t want to leave mine. Not to mention, I’m locked in at the price I paid two years ago (you’re locked in at whatever price you pay when you join). They upgraded their hosting plans to add more space and bandwidth, but it also increased in price, so I’m glad I’m locked in at my pricepoint. Even though more space and bandwidth would be nice to have just in case, I really don’t need it for my purposes.
Anyway, why do I want PHP5 support? One reason only (for now). I found a CMS that would be perfect for my needs. As I’ve posted before, I’m always on the lookout for an easy-to-use content management system that’s also versatile and expandable without having to spend so much time just to familiarize yourself with what everything does in the administrator’s panel. I’ve tried so many different CMSes now and most of them have been full of features that I’ll never use and I really didn’t want to spend the time figuring out what does what in the control panel. I just want to get straight to creating content, not fiddling around in some control panel.
The CMS I recenly found is Silverstripe and it runs only on PHP5 enabled servers. Check out the demo for yourself and see just how intuitive the whole thing is and also take a look at their showcase of sites that use it.
It is incredibly awesome and I really want to be able to get it up and running on a few sites.
So I really hope that the people at DirectAdmin will put out better support for PHP5 so that my web host can start utilizing it on my server.