PHP doesn't work (solved -- sorta)

["Adam H. Pendleton" <fmonkey fmonkey net>]

Well, I've figured out why PHP doesn't work, and in doing so tied in my 
other post about php.ini.  RedHat, for reasons I don't quite 
understand, have decided to change the value of "short_open_tag" to 
"Off".  It is on by default on 7.3, but the value is changed to "Off" 
in the php update.  It doesn't take effect, however (read my php.ini 
post), because the setting is saved into /etc/php.ini.rpmnew instead of 
/etc/php.ini.  On 8.0, though, the setting is "Off" in the base 
install.  Changing the page to:

<?php

phpinfo();

?>

from:

<?

phpinfo();

?>

causes the page to execute properly.  Having this set to "Off" will of 
course break a ton of PHP software because most PHP developers use the 
short form of the tag opening.  This leads to my question:

Why did RedHat feel the need to change this setting?  Was it done 
deliberately or was it an oversight?  Was it indeed done by RedHat, or 
is this a change propagated from the default php.ini released with PHP? 
 I know there are RedHat developers on this list, and I would like to 
hear their answers to these questions, since this has caused me, and 
many others, quite a few headaches.

ahp

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