IBM’s new PHP efforts are described in this press release and this news article. They include:

- A free-download package combing PHP and the Cloudscape DB
- IBM developer resources focused on Web Services in PHP

I suppose this makes (or will make soon) IBM a commercial resource for PHP support.

I’ve felt for a while that PHP is about five years behind Linux on the commercial acceptance/support arc. Maybe that number isn’t exactly on point, but the general trends have been pretty consistent. I don’t remember exactly when the building at 42nd & 8th (across from Port Authority) in Manhattan was splashed with a giant penguin on it as part of IBM’s “we do Linux” ad campaign a while ago, but perhaps a big Elephant (or whatever PHP’s logo is nowadays) isn’t far behind.

Is this good for PHP? Bad for PHP? What do you think?