No it's not. We're not talking about music --how popular Bieber is vs Bach, for example. So he didnt just say "tons of people use PHP", he said "tons of people use PHP and it solves their problems giving results".
This is not an "argument by popularity", its an argument by number of empirical verifications. Which is supposedly what engineering and science is all about.
On the other hand your arguments are appeals to "logic", "theory", etc, eg idealism and elitism in the face of actual results. "That's (eg python) is how a language should be, and not like php" etc. All the while forgetting to take no account practical, verified, php benefits.
>Yes, most people on the web use PHP and Apache. Most people on the web also need nothing more than a WordPress installation and their online needs are met. Does that mean WordPress is the best tool out there?
OIf it meets their needs and has them happy, of course! Anything else would be dellusional to say.