[development] PHP version stats

[Larry Garfield]

On Sat, 24 Mar 2007 14:32:01 -0300, "Victor Kane" <victorkane at gmail.com> wrote:

> There is no doubt about this. All discussion on PHP5 and OOP is based on
> equal availability in common hostings, etc., for a time when PHP5 is as
> omnipresent as PHP4 is now.
>
> The problem is, that obviously that will come in time, but we should be
> thinking about the implications of migration now.
>
> A paradigm shift cannot come at the drop of a hat either.
>
> Victor Kane
> http://awebfactory.com.ar

True, it can't.  That's why I suggested letting Contrib test the waters.  I actually don't expect Views, CCK, and the other "top ten modules" to be the ones that become PHP 5 only, for the reasons given.  But what about, say, the XML-parsing modules?  PHP 5 is a god-send for those.  If "Drupal and most of contrib run PHP 4, but the really fancy XML stuff requires PHP 5" , that provides a small amount of upgrade pressure without automatically risking all of Drupal on a 20% market.  It allows us to shift up incrementally with low risk per-step.

I agree that blaming developers for not upgrading is pointing the finger in the wrong place, because we're stuck in that same chicken and egg problem.  Red Hat and Zend need to move before we can, because they're big enough that they have a big enough coat tail to matter.  But we can at least start inching in that direction in Contrib.  That allows us to test the waters, and effectively give notice to hosts that this is the direction things are moving, and will move just as soon as there's critical mass to do so.  

--Larry Garfield