[wp-trac] [WordPress Trac] #23880: Minimum PHP version in Plugins

[WordPress Trac]

#23880: Minimum PHP version in Plugins
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 Reporter:  TJNowell         |       Owner:
     Type:  feature request  |      Status:  closed
 Priority:  normal           |   Milestone:
Component:  Plugins          |     Version:
 Severity:  normal           |  Resolution:  wontfix
 Keywords:                   |     Focuses:
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Comment (by alexander.rohmann):

 I think this is something that needs to be addressed by bumping the
 requirements of WordPress itself.

 @nacin
 >Plan now is to lean on hosts to update accounts to the latest version of
 WordPress and PHP 5.4+, and see where our numbers are later this year.

 Maybe it's time to lean more aggressively and openly? It feels like by the
 time anything happens, PHP 5.4 will be EOL (considering 5.3 is EOL next
 month)

 @dd32
 > It's worth noting that although these older PHP's are EOL'd by PHP, some
 linux distributions will continue to support security updates for them for
 years to come (LTS releases).

 That doesn't make LTS the responsibility of WordPress. They can simply
 stop updating WordPress, and provide their own layer of security just like
 they do with PHP.

 I'm sure this has been discussed enough, but I (and many others) have been
 waiting patiently for quite some time, and I'd like to rock the boat a bit
 here.

 '''At some point, WordPress itself carries more weight than the majority
 of webhosts.'''

 There are obviously graceful paths to the future. For example:

 1. Pick a major version of WordPress that will refuse to update to another
 major release unless a PHP version is met.
 2. Communicate to major web hosts that this will take place in 12 months
 (or whatever arbitrary timeframe).
 3. Continue to offer minor updates to that last branch for an additional
 timeframe.

 This allows them two periods of time to update - more than generous. No
 general-purpose hosting company will be able to offer a service that
 doesn't support WordPress, so I predict they will comply. They are running
 out of excuses to update by the day as it is.

 At some point, development must be allowed to evolve. Windows just went
 through a similar process by completely dropping XP. Maybe it was a bumpy
 ride for some big players, but shame on them for dragging their feet. In
 the end the web development community could not be more grateful (no more
 IE6-8.) It is in the interest of Open Source projects to appeal to
 developers.

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Ticket URL: <https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/23880#comment:46>
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