I agree with Reed Hedges and Alan Kay that computers need to be redesigned from the ground up to support user programming. That was the essence of HyperCard, and of HyperLook, which it inspired. I described HyperLook and other related ideas on the OLPC mailing list here: http://lists.laptop.org/pipermail/sugar/2006-December/001022.html
The OLPC includes Alan Kay’s Smalltalk/Squeak/eToys environment, but it is not built around it. Rather, it’s built around Python. eToys is there to inspire people to do the same thing with Python as has been done with Smalltalk. Smalltalk is not the official programming language of the OLPC – Python is.
You can read some interesting discissions I’ve had with Alan Kay about programming languages on my web site: http://www.DonHopkins.com
What’s wrong with taking cheap shots at PHP? It deserves it. The fan boys should stop wasting their time apologizing for it, and learn a better language. PHP’s own designer, Rasmus Lerdorf, admits he had absolutely no idea how to write a programming language – what better reason could there be not to use PHP??!
Here is why PHP Will Ruin You Mind:
http://ask.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=621541cid=24287825
And if you’re still not convinced the design of PHP is deeply flawed, because language design is HARD and should only be attempted on purpose by experienced people, here’s what the Father of PHP Rasmus Lerdorf himself said in an ITConversations interview [itconversations.com], quoted in Why PHP sucks, Part III [dasgenie.com]:
I don't know how to stop it, there was never any intend to write a programming language [...] I have absolutely no idea how to write a programming language, I just kept adding the next logical step on the way.