Python v PHP: fair comparison?

[Cameron Laird]

In article <069u24-t0c.ln1 at lairds.us>, I reported:
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>I appreciate your clarification.  I can report back that we
>certainly move in different circles; I, for example, knew of
>people with multi-million-dollar budgets deciding on Python-
>based Web technology for *serious* applications in '96.  Ruby
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Was Python really *such* big business so long ago?  Without put-
ting myself out to look through my notes, and make sure of what I
have permission to disclose, I can point, for instance, to <URL:
http://www.opticality.com/Press/Opticality/LinuxMagazine/view >:
"By October 1998, Pedhazur had invested $750,000" in Digital Cre-
ations, the company behind Python-based Web framework Zope (modulo
a few name changes).  That's not the only case.  So, yes, I repeat:
Python-based Web business well beyond the scale of "parts we found
in a dumpster" has been going on for a decade.

I'm ready to grant Ruby on Rails has impacted cultural awareness
in a way Python doesn't yet touch.  I'm not a good judge of such 
matters.