In this new post Marco Tabini gives his take on "language haters" and how it's less about the language and more about what you do with it.

The reason why I'm here is that, on occasion, a person decides that it's time write Yet Another PHP Bashing Post. Typically, this is followed by a bunch of Posts Defending PHP. [...] Saying that PHP is horrible or great is no more useful than saying that a hammer is horrible or great (regardless of the number of claws it comes with). [...] The real question is whether PHP - or any other technology - is good for you.

He goes on to mention current successful projects that use PHP, but focuses on the people and the ideas that made them happen, not the language "behind the scenes". He also comments on what he thinks makes a good programmer (and one that has matured past the "X language is the best!" stance):

And this brings me to the crux of the matter: The trick to being a great programmer is to learn as much as you can about as many programming languages and techniques as you can. Eventually, you'll learn that any language is excellent at some things, good at others, and a poor choice for many others. It's all about the context, and finding the right tool for the job.