On 7PHP.com today another community interview has been posted - this time it's with Michael Wallner, a full-time PHP core developer working at SmugMug.

Today I bring you an interview with someone (named Michael Wallner, @_m6w6) who has been hired to work full-time on PHP. Yes you heard it right: this guy is paid to work on The Core of PHP. As you know PHP is open-source, so why would a company hire someone to work full-time on such a free technology? (I let you get the answers from Mike himself). Besides since he is highly involved with PHP and it’s core, it’s a good opportunity to learn from his experience and know-how, so let’s hear from him!

He answers questions about his past, how he started with PHP and what he thinks of the language now versus when he started out with it. He gives some advice to budding PHP developers and some of the libraries/projects he suggests. They then talk some about his work at SmugMug and how much time he'll be spending dedicated to working on the PHP core. There's also a bit answering the "why" question of why SmugMug would hire him to work on the core...but you'll have to read the interview to find out that answer.