Yes, when <i>using</i> languages, there's really no reason to go to war (unless, like a developer fresh out of college, you only know a few, and they are thusly your de-facto "favorites.")<p>But the thing about programming languages, that's different from all the other things people have aesthetic preferences about (art, music, food...) is that (most) programming languages are also open for <i>modification</i> by their user communities. Saying "PHP is crap because it leaves its functions all over the floor" is just a mean way of saying "I vote that PHP should be changed so that it puts its functions back on the shelf before dinner time." Picture a toolbox where, if you complained enough about your screwdriver slipping too much, it would <i>evolve</i> a new head design right before your eyes. The toolbox analogy seems to break down there, doesn't it?<p>The closest thing I can think of to a programming language that regular people deal with is an apartment/office building. Just by getting the "user community" rallied around an issue, you can actually get large changes made to the product itself. Thus, people are always, always shouting about what's wrong with their building, hoping that someone will agree and a mob will amass to Get Things Done.
Programming languages is one of those topics which demonstrates the difference between online and offline discussions. In an online forum I don't mind reading a back and forth argument about languages especially if I can learn something from it. But in person I find it comes through as just completely pretentious, even if it is polite.