OK Flag that . . . RTFM

I only get a following parse error

Warning: Unexpected character in input: '\' (ASCII=92) state=1 in /WWWROOT/221694/htdocs/selfoss/index.php on line 17
Parse error: syntax error, unexpected T_STRING in /WWWROOT/221694/htdocs/selfoss/index.php on line 17

You need at least PHP version 5.3. selfoss is not compatible wit PHP version 5.2 or lower.