On 10-11-2023 17:51, Jakub Zelenka wrote:
Hello,
I would like to propose a new process RFC for updates to PHP release cycle:
https://wiki.php.net/rfc/release_cycle_update
This has been discussed between release managers to make sure that all are
happy as some of the points impact release managers (e.g. longer security
support).
I also opened a PR to my new personal repo for RFC's if anyone has got any
suggestion for better wording or notices any typo:
https://github.com/bukka/php-rfc/pull/1
Thank you Jakub for putting this together. A lot of this makes sense to
me, but the shortening of the feature freeze period from effectively 18
weeks (with some exceptions) to 8 weeks concerns me.
While this is not a concern for applications in a controlled
environment, this is a concern for open source projects which don't have
control over the environment the software is being run on and therefore
generally "have to be" (try to be) deprecation-free "early", especially
packages which are used in the CI/QA chain of open source applications
(think: Composer, PHPUnit, Mockery, Pest etc) and frameworks which are
widely extended, where the extensions can't really verify their own
readiness until the framework is deprecation-free (think: WordPress and
its plugin system).
Taking that into account, I would like suggest the following:
* Yes, 4 RCs, but instead of 2 weeks between each, have 3 weeks between
each. That way the RC period remains the same, allowing the open source
world to get ready in time, while still lessening the workload.
* Regarding moving the feature freeze to the first RC: I can see the
benefits of small features still being allowed in, but deprecations
going in late is a different matter. While PHP 8.3 was "light" in
regards to the impact of deprecations, PHP 8.1 and 8.2 were a whole
different kettle of fish. With that in mind, I'd like to suggest
deprecations/removals to only be allowed in up to beta 1, with new RFC
features and other small changes being allowed in until RC1.
I hope you'll consider these suggestions.
Smile,
Juliette
