Minimum PHP version should be 7.x

discobot · March 6, 2021, 4:53pm

Read-only archive: https://petitions.classicpress.net/posts/6/minimum-php-version-should-be-7-x

Author: stefanos82

Vote count: 113

Status: planned

Tags:

request-modify-feature

Comments

Only half kidding [above].

This backward compatibility idea has its merits and is largely its commendable, but everything and everyone, at some point in time, has to move forward, or they hold everyone else back.

What would perhaps be more useful, right now, than a discussion about whether we draw a line with PHP 7.0, is a discussion about the principles behind coming to [technical debt, type] decisions like this, what motivates the arguments, and how the decision, when eventually arrived at, should be made.

That discussion should also include ideas on what thought is given to–what is actually done for, and the opportunities left to–those the decision leaves behind.

Otherwise it just becomes a free-for-all question of who shouts the loudest, or who has the most compelling use-case, or perhaps who has the cabal’s ear, which I thought was the primary reason we are all here in the first place.

A bit like democracy. Mob rule by another name.

~ posted by Terence

I don’t think merely incremental bumping of the minimum required version of PHP is the way to go here, nor do I think we should be influenced by statistics of PHP usage. Many sites running old versions of PHP probably haven’t been updated in years, and aren’t likely to be. So waiting for users to move to a later version would be like waiting for Godot.

It’s also unlikely that ClassicPress would have enough clout in the short term to influence users to move to a later version of PHP unless they have already made a conscious decision to use ClassicPress. If the latter is true, they will be reading our materials that explain what choices and decisions we have made, so they will know the minimum PHP version required. So, again, I don’t see any reason for merely incremental bumping of the required PHP version.

I see a very strong reason for setting the bar at either 5.6 or 7. It makes a clear statement of where our priorities lie. Strong security is paramount.

I don’t feel strongly about whether the minimum version of PHP should be 5.6 or 7, provided that we understand that, if we choose 5.6, we will have to revisit it sooner rather than later as 5.6 ceases to have full security support at the end of 2018.

So the choice seems to me to depend more on practicalities. Would it be easier to migrate to 5.6 first, and then move to 7 later? Or would it be easier to go straight to 7?

~ posted by KTS915

To me, the discussion about breaking sites is a mute point. Sites are already breaking due to popular plugins cutting off support for anything below 7.0.

And what is supported is not really up to WP. It’s up to PHP devs.

5.6 only has security support. Why would WP want to stay with a version that holds back all the new security and performance features, especially considering that hosts are desperate to make the upgrade for their own sake’s.

And why would WP want plugin devs to continue maintaining a plugin that has to support PHP 5.6, 7.x, and Gutenberg? That is a heck of load on them.

It seems like dragging this out will ultimately cause more headaches and site issues.

I hope we can leave the mentality behind that sites don’t require some technical expertise, and begin educating DIY site owners that they now have to pay attention to what’s going on with the back side. Too much is changing now that they’ve never had to pay attention to before, like PHP, HTTPS, security, and more.

WP has the opportunity to help move things faster into the future instead of being so afraid of breaking something.

~ posted by BlogAid

To me, the discussion about breaking sites is a mute point.

It is a moot point, but that’s because, as @James Nylen explained, we won’t be breaking sites at all. We will just prevent them from installing ClassicPress.

And why would WP want plugin devs to continue maintaining a plugin that has to support PHP 5.6, 7.x, and Gutenberg? That is a heck of load on them.

Whether we set a minimum version of PHP 5.6 or 7 (or anything else) will have no impact on such plugin developers because WP will continue supporting lower versions of PHP anyway. So this is a red herring.

5.6 only has security support. Why would WP want to stay with a version that holds back all the new security and performance features, especially considering that hosts are desperate to make the upgrade for their own sake’s.

I think you are conflating different issues. Nothing is stopping users or hosts choosing to use PHP 7 to take advantage of its security and performance upgrades. Setting a minimum version of PHP for ClassicPress, on the other hand, is about enabling us to rip out old PHP code that is no longer secure and which currently exposes everyone who uses WP to its insecurities.

So long as CP’s minimum version of PHP is still getting security updates, then we will continue to achieve that purpose. So 5.6 would be just as good (for the moment) as 7. Which is why I suggested earlier that this seems to be more of a matter of what is easier to do initially.

~ posted by KTS915

So I got thinking about this (remember I’m coming from a multisite standpoint as it is primarily what I use). Support for below 5.6 shouldn’t even be considered. Most shared hosting providers don’t even (want) support anything below 5.6 anymore so we should drop support as well. I say minimum version being 5.6 and if people are in a situation where they can’t use 5.6+ then it will leave a gap in the market for a managed solution which is not a bad thing. The ability for people to build a SaaS business around WordPress is one of the primary reasons some of the more sophisticated plugins come to be, these businesses will spend the money an average blogger won’t on development. Even at 5.6 I do believe it’s not something we should encourage or support long term but more as a stepping stone. Support 5.6 with a dashboard notification that it’s out of date and support will be dropped in a future release. PHP 7 is where we want to be as quickly as possible without alienating the average guy.

~ posted by Dustin Snider

PHP 5.6 min. But very soon PHP 7.x.

The sooner the better. I use multisite for almost all projects. PHP 7.2 is my preference.

Suggestions about people who either can’t or won’t upgrade the PHP version seem rather moot to me. If a person is interested in changing to another version of WordPress, they should be able to handle upgrading to PHP 7.x . Either this is a break from the old or it isn’t.

Hosting isn’t what it used to be. If a host isn’t keeping up with stable releases of PHP the client should change. I know there are a lot of plugins and themes slow walking the upgrade. If there is going to be a separate update process using Github or another source for CP, then those wanting to work with this project will provide updated versions of plugins and themes. It’s to everybody’s benefit.

My opinion.

~ posted by a ClassicPress Supporter

Here’s what I am thinking as far as a plan for this change:

All ClassicPress 1.x versions will support PHP 5.6 and greater.

We’ll bump the minimum PHP version with each major version of ClassicPress, and use a PHP version check to make sure the site is compatible with the new version. If the version check doesn’t pass, then we’ll block the upgrade (similar to how the migration plugin works today).

When we get closer to version 2 release, we’ll take a look at the distribution of PHP versions on ClassicPress 1.x sites.

In a ClassicPress 1.x release, we’ll include a prompt to upgrade older PHP versions. This should help move the needle further and push more people to upgrade.

We’ll use the results from the active installation numbers, as well as the PHP support timeline, to decide on a minimum PHP version for ClassicPress v2.x. It may be as high as PHP 7.2 and 7.3, but we need more information about active installations, timeline, etc first.

If that works well going from v1 to v2, it should be an approach that we can repeat with each major version of ClassicPress.

~ posted by James Nylen

system · September 17, 2021, 6:11pm