[development] Go PHP 5, Go!

[dmitri]

We could potentially make an extended support cycle for Drupal 6,  
e.g. still when Drupal 8 comes out, however D7 will have php5  
required for some of core, as some of us have said, and D8 will be  
php5 only (but 6 will still be supported)

On Jun 26, 2007, at 7:33 AM, Earnie Boyd wrote:

> Quoting Dries Buytaert <dries.buytaert at gmail.com>:
>
>>
>> On 21 Jun 2007, at 08:38, Boris Mann wrote:
>>> Mark my words: a PHP5-only Drupal 7 will leave many, many Drupal
>>> users behind.
>>>
>>> It's OK...every full Drupal update leaves many Drupal users  
>>> behind  for a significant portion of time. Ponder that :P
>>
>> Except that this time, we risk leaving 70% of the install base   
>> behind.  The amount of intelligent/constructive feedback to this   
>> thread has been surprisingly low.  Let's stick to facts and real   
>> arguments, please.  I'd like to see a _real_ discussion here.
>>
>
> How do we quantify the 70%?  Does all of that 70% have no choice to  
> move to PHP5 if they want?  How can we help those who want to move  
> to Drupal 7 but can't because their stuck on PHP4 find a path?   
> What preparation will early announcement have on the 70% to help  
> reduce that number?  Those who don't want to upgrade will never  
> upgrade; should we reduce that number from the 70%?  We could add a  
> warning to Drupal 6 that Drupal 7 is going to require PHP5 to  
> prepare the masses who upgrade to it.  Unless we approach this as  
> all or nothing IMO we will forever remain at PHP4.
>
> It is easy for modules to begin to require PHP5 with a simple try/ 
> catch coding phrase.  Since try/catch cannot be emulated it is a  
> must to move to PHP5 to use the code.  So in order to help reduce  
> the migration to PHP5 I do agree that some modules should begin  
> requiring it for Drupal 6.  I find PHP5 faster than PHP4 so  
> therefore remaining at PHP4 makes little sense since we are looking  
> for speed improvements.  The issue is, for those who have the need  
> to remain at PHP4 how can we continue to support them?  We let them  
> remain with Drupal 4, 5 and 6 until such time they are ready to  
> move forward.
>
> Earnie