I must respectfully disagree with Rasmus. It is not "purely academic". And saying that it was the right way to do it 8 years ago hardly seems like a compelling argument for continuing to do it this way.

AddType tells the browser what to do with a file. AddHandler tells the server what to do with a file. The fact that "it works" is not the only measure of correctness. AddHandler works too. But AddHandler is more correct, and makes more sense to newbies trying to figure out *why* it works. php is not a file type, it is a handler.

I would have thought that a change this minor, which helps people understand what's going on, would have no cost and significant benefits.

Yes, I understand Rasmus' reasoning, and it was valid reasoning before the turn of the century. And, yes, I'm the guy that wrote the blog entry that Rasmus wrote that email in response to, so I suppose that it's unlikely that my voice will be heard any more this time than that. But I really find it to be a very weak argument, when users' understanding would be greatly enhanced by the change.