In less than 10 posts, this thread descended into people bashing each other. Perhaps that's telling of something.
I won't comment on the point about forums or anything else, but a concern brought up repeatedly both here and in various blogs is the lack of direction or vision. There's a conflict between people who want to keep PHP simple and accessible and people who want to make PHP into a professional programming tool/environment, complete with all bells and whistles. With everyone wanting something different and having different ideas on who the target users are, what PHP's responsibilities and concerns should be, etc., it's going to be the classic struggle of trying to be everything for everybody all at once. Perhaps that issue really does need to be tackled head-on - and if a consensus can't be reached, maybe PHP should branch off, having one version (not necessarily a different codebase) for hobbyists, small sites and beginners, alongside a professional branch for production environments and developers who are willing and able to take off the training wheels and make use of more advanced features, stop relying on the engine to let them get away with bad habits, etc. The other classic problem is old-timers who get stuck in their ways and instantly reject the very notion of change because it will take them out of their comfort zone - and discourage newcomers who might oust them from their position of power. Perhaps there's a Machiavellian amongst us who can help out with that one.
