[RFC][3.3.x] Supported PHP versions

General discussion of development ideas and the approaches taken in the 3.x branch of phpBB. The current feature release of phpBB 3 is 3.3/Proteus.
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Minimum PHP version for phpBB 3.3.x?

5.5.x
3
5%
5.6.x
13
20%
7.0.x
42
66%
7.1.x
6
9%
 
Total votes: 64

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Marc
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[RFC][3.3.x] Supported PHP versions

Post by Marc »

I'd like to propose moving on to PHP 7.0.0 as minimum PHP version for phpBB 3.3.x. The frameworks we're using are moving towards supporting PHP 7.0 only in the coming months as well so it make sense to adhere to this and also move on with phpBB. Support for PHP 7.0 is increasing day by day and by the time phpBB 3.3.0 is released we should have a good enough user base on PHP 7.0. Even then, phpBB 3.2 will still be supported which will cover any users that are not able to update to PHP 7.0 just yet.

I recommend using the poll to voice your opinion on this instead of posting something like +1.

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david63
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Re: [RFC][3.3.x] Supported PHP versions

Post by david63 »

If the frameworks that phpBB needs are only going to work with PHP7+ then that is the obvious way to go. As to which version that then becomes another question.

At what point does the actual version need to be "set in stone"? I would suggest that you start with 7.0.x now and if it is viable review the situation at a later date. Assuming that 3.3 will (and this is purely my speculation) be the better part of two or more years away then the situation may have changed significantly in that time - there may be 90% of servers running PHP 7.5 and 7.0 may be all but dead (I know that is fantasy - but you get the point)
David
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3Di
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Re: [RFC][3.3.x] Supported PHP versions

Post by 3Di »

I am with 7.1 at this point in time.
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sitesplat
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Re: [RFC][3.3.x] Supported PHP versions

Post by sitesplat »

What are we keep sending stats info from the ACP if then we just jump ship with no good enough explanation?
Can we publish the stats data and see what it tells us?

Otherwise you're just going to have trolls and/or users who have no real understanding about the technology and therefore choosing an higher version just because sounds good. Already happened by the writing of this post.

Here's what should be published the same way about phpBB https://wordpress.org/about/stats/
If they upped the minimum requirement to PHP 7.0, do you think they would have the same user base?
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hubaishan
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Re: [RFC][3.3.x] Supported PHP versions

Post by hubaishan »

php 5.5 must be excluded from this vote it is in END OF LIFE now, see

http://php.net/supported-versions.php

as in https://www.phpbb.com/about/release/ the end of maintenance of 3.3.x is june 2019
Security support of php 5.6 will end in 31 Dec 2018
and php 7.0 will end in 3 Dec 2018
and php 7.1 will end in 1 Dec 2019 at the time of end of life of phpBB 3.3.x

so php 7.1 has the nearest supporting time to phpBB 3.3.x but if there is not any php 7.1 features needed in phpBB 3.3.x the best choice is php 7.0 for minimize developing headaches and syntax conflicts.

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Ger
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Re: [RFC][3.3.x] Supported PHP versions

Post by Ger »

Marc wrote: Tue Jan 10, 2017 9:10 pm by the time phpBB 3.3.0 is released we should have a good enough user base on PHP 7.0
While I know phpBB doesn't plan on dates, I think the bold part is key in this discussion. As it is now, quite some hosts do not offer PHP 7 yet. AFAIK, CentOS for example ships PHP 5.5 by default. It might be 5.6, but surely not PHP 7.

That is of course the current situation. PHP 7 adoption is quite fast compared to PHP 5.x versions. phpBB 3.3 isn't planned for this month, maybe not even ready this year. 3.2 took more than 2 years. If development for phpBB 3.3 will take a similar amount of time, requiring PHP 7 will make perfect sense. When you expect it to be released this year, I would recommend to support the latest PHP 5.6.x version as well.
Above message may contain errors in grammar, spelling or wrongly chosen words. This is because I'm not a native speaker. My apologies in advance.

koraldon
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Re: [RFC][3.3.x] Supported PHP versions

Post by koraldon »

Two things:
A) If you go to php7, this should entails a major version - i.e. phpbb 4.x - otherwise there is no sense to having minor/major versions. Semantic but important imho, as php7 will be a major BC break.
B) I would urge to go to php 5.6 as going to 7 is
b.1.) Most of the user base is still not using php 7, see WP or Joomla stats. It is maybe at 10% or even less. So 2 years from now I assume most of the people will still be at 5.x.
b.2.) PHP7 causes a break with a lot of other software, so if I upgrade my server to php7 for phpbb, I might break other software. This is very bad imho.
b.3.) It blocks direct upgrades from phpbb 3.1 or earlier, as they don't support php7 at all... No easy testing or rollback. Potential for nightmare upgrade issues.

Of course, if next version of phpbb releases in 4 years, than yes. But if it is in the next year or two, I think 5.6 is the way to go.
For reference:
Joomla 4 is slated to be released this year, minimum of 5.5, supported at least until 2020.
Drupal 8 was released last year, supported until 2022, minimum of 5.5
Symfony 3.3 (next version) minimum of 5.5
Last edited by koraldon on Fri Jan 13, 2017 9:26 am, edited 2 times in total.

Senky
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Re: [RFC][3.3.x] Supported PHP versions

Post by Senky »

koraldon wrote: Fri Jan 13, 2017 8:39 am b.3.) It blocks direct upgrades from phpbb 3.1 or earlier, as they don't support php7 at all... No easy testing or rollback. Potential for nightmare upgrade issues.
This is really strong argument. Even when we decide for 7.0, upgrade process must work on 5.4, or we won't allow users to directly upgrade 3.0->3.3 and 3.1->3.3.

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DavidIQ
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Re: [RFC][3.3.x] Supported PHP versions

Post by DavidIQ »

Senky wrote: Fri Jan 13, 2017 8:51 am
koraldon wrote: Fri Jan 13, 2017 8:39 am b.3.) It blocks direct upgrades from phpbb 3.1 or earlier, as they don't support php7 at all... No easy testing or rollback. Potential for nightmare upgrade issues.
This is really strong argument. Even when we decide for 7.0, upgrade process must work on 5.4, or we won't allow users to directly upgrade 3.0->3.3 and 3.1->3.3.
I don't see how this is relevant at all. You end up having to delete your old files and uploading the new set anyways so this is not a valid point. I will even go as far as suggesting that the automatic updater be removed in future versions for going across major versions.
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david63
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Re: [RFC][3.3.x] Supported PHP versions

Post by david63 »

DavidIQ wrote: Fri Jan 13, 2017 12:07 pm I will even go as far as suggesting that the automatic updater be removed in future versions for going across major versions.
Why stop at major versions - auto update should, in my opinion, have never been in 3.1/3.2
David
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and you do not know what you do not know!

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