"People" questioning the numbers published by multiple outlets over at least a decade? Who? What data do they have to "conclude that the number is very unreliable?"
Whether PHP runs 77% or 69% of public web sites, how does that offend anyone or make them feel insecure? No one is trying to "prove" anything, there's no race to the one ultimate tech stack that requires winners and losers. You can accept the fact that PHP objectively runs a large majority of public web sites without interpreting that as a threat to your choices, your job, your image of yourself as a professional.
Having so much PHP out there may look like a problem, but programmers attaching their ego and identity to languages and tools and frameworks accounts for a lot more wasted time and crappy code than a popular language that has some obvious and well-known flaws.
Whether PHP runs 77% or 69% of public web sites, how does that offend anyone or make them feel insecure? No one is trying to "prove" anything, there's no race to the one ultimate tech stack that requires winners and losers. You can accept the fact that PHP objectively runs a large majority of public web sites without interpreting that as a threat to your choices, your job, your image of yourself as a professional.
Having so much PHP out there may look like a problem, but programmers attaching their ego and identity to languages and tools and frameworks accounts for a lot more wasted time and crappy code than a popular language that has some obvious and well-known flaws.