PHP requirement

[MichaelC]

<MichaelC> Tbh, with drupal bumping it's minimum requirement to 5.5, I don't think it's something we should be worrying about (hosts not having updated)
<MichaelC> Also, if we are only going to 5.5 in one year, then by the time we jump to php7 or 5.6, 7.4 will have been released.
<MichaelC> Drupal moving it's minimum requirement up is going to force most hosts to update, us following suit will only help.
<MichaelC> And don't forget, we are still going to be supporting 3.2 in the fall of 2017, by which point 5.4 will have been EOL 2 years
<MichaelC> We are already supporting PHP 5.3.x until Fall of 2016 with 3.1

Nicofuma, as you said, 2 years past EOL is a long time. We are going to be dropping 5.3 two and a half years after EOL already due to 3.1, let's not have the same situation with 3.2 (supporting PHP 5.4 two years after EOL).

[Nicofuma]

What do you think about:

• 5.4 now (phpBB 3.2)
• 5.5 (or 5.6) newt year (phpBB 3.3)
• We announce both at the same time (before or just after phpBB 3.2-a1)

[Marc]

Just a short list of current PHP versions by distros that are currently supported:

• Ubuntu 14.04 LTS: 5.5.9
• Ubuntu 15.04: 5.6.4
• Debian 6: 5.3.3
• Debian 7: 5.4.41
• Debian 8: 5.6.9
• CentOS 6.x: 5.3.3
• Centos 7.x: 5.4.16

Based on that I'd rather stay on PHP 5.4 since Debian and CentOS are used rather often. There are a lot more distros still on 5.4 but I'll stop with this list for now.

[Elsensee]

As I already said: I'm not against a version bump to 5.4 for 3.2.

I just think we shouldn't set the php to require just because the current required php version is EOL'd. If we use specific functions or language features which are not available in some php version, then it's okay to bump the version, but to bump the requirement so we could use some functions or language features is not okay IMHO.
So I'd say, let's just require the lowest php version with which phpBB can run without any issues. This will save our users some time and hassle and they will happily continue to use phpBB.

[JoshyPHP]

If we use specific functions or language features which are not available in some php version, then it's okay to bump the version, but to bump the requirement so we could use some functions or language features is not okay IMHO.

I don't get it. You have to bump the requirements before you can use a new feature.

[MattF]

I just think our min req ver should be whatever the number truly is, based on what we are using/doing. Can't we increase it at any time if we decide to install or do something that leads to a higher requirement?

[Nicofuma]

The problem is that a lot of people would like to use new features like me, but they don't because it's not necessary.

Nothing is necessary, it's just convenient.

[MattF]

The problem is that a lot of people would like to use new features like me, but they don't because it's not necessary.

Nothing is necessary, it's just convenient.

OK.

[KnownSyntax]

What do you think about:

• 5.4 now (phpBB 3.2)
• 5.5 (or 5.6) newt year (phpBB 3.3)
• We announce both at the same time (before or just after phpBB 3.2-a1)

I think that this would be the best, that way those hosts that are still using older versions of Debian and CentOS will have a chance to upgrade in order to stay with the new trend of software (as stated by another poster we can see that many other different types of software are already considering and making PHP 5.5 their minimum requirement). It's sad that many hosts probably do use older server operating systems, but it's just something that takes time for them to be forced to upgrade.

[A_Jelly_Doughnut]

According to phpversions.info 32 out of the 40 shared hosts in their database offer php 5.5. Bluehost & rackspace cloud are the only names on the list which I recognize, and doesn't offer 5.5 -- and Bluehost provisions 5.2 on new accounts by default.

Quick summary:
17/40 offer 5.6
32/40 offer 5.5
37/40 offer 5.4 or higher (some of the smaller hosts on the list don't offer 5.4 but do offer 5.5)

So to my opinion for 3.2: 5.4 looks very safe, I wouldn't object to 5.5.