MySql is heavily supported by PHP and has many built in functions and is much easier to use, although you could use a flatfile I never have and have no desire to, just about all Forum or Message Board or BBS sofware use a database and it is usually MySQL so why try using something very few use if at all even though it is possible.
I saw a guy blow up a truck tire on What's My Line (a very old televsion program) and he blew into that tire until it exploded, but it is easier to use a compressor or bicycle pump to do the same thing without all the resultant mess.
I forgot to add that it was not a tire that the Bozo blew up but a truck tire innertube, this was before they had tubless tires and you could pump one up and ride down the river in one, or float in a pool in one, but this clown blew into the valve stem until it exploded, it was one of the damnest things I ever saw (except for the old man in a Tuxedo that blew himself up with dynamite and lived through it in a big snowstorm, he did kinda walk funny aftewards and couldn't hear a word for a while afterward, but he did it.)!
