We distribute two php.ini files, why not set short_open_tag to "off" in
php.ini-optimized?
I use <?php in every simple script and in fact whenever I thought at I even converted php.net pages from <? to <?php modifying them
well, how about
a) removing php.ini (yes really, I know that will make life unnecessary harder, but we already found out - PHP is *too* easy to install, well let us solve it ;) )
b) having - php.ini-compatible
php.ini-recommended
php.ini-optimized
everyone should be smart enough to rename it to php.ini and most users will not upgrade their php.ini anyway, newbies will not experience any real difference, it just changes from "copy php.ini to eg. /usr/local/lib or $windows/", "read which php.ini to choose, rename & copy it to folder xxx"
2c
andré