[wp-trac] [WordPress Trac] #57345: Bump the minimum required PHP version to 7.2

[WordPress Trac]

#57345: Bump the minimum required PHP version to 7.2
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 Reporter:  SergeyBiryukov                       |       Owner:  (none)
     Type:  task (blessed)                       |      Status:  new
 Priority:  normal                               |   Milestone:  Future
                                                 |  Release
Component:  General                              |     Version:
 Severity:  normal                               |  Resolution:
 Keywords:  has-patch has-unit-tests 2nd-        |     Focuses:
  opinion                                        |
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Comment (by snoringdragon):

 Replying to [comment:45 azaozz]:
 > Replying to [comment:34 SergeyBiryukov]:
 > > maybe we could do this in two steps for versions that are already
 below 5%?
 > >
 > > * Announce dropping PHP 5.6 support in WP 6.2
 > > * Announce dropping PHP 7.0 and 7.1 support in WP 6.3
 >
 > Hmm, that may work but what would be the benefits for the WP users and
 contributors in bumping to PHP 7.0, and then again to 7.2 in few months?
 Frankly not seeing any significant
 [https://www.php.net/manual/en/migration70.new-features.php new features
 in PHP 7.0] that would help the WP codebase much.
 >
 > Bumping to 7.2 would (at least) mean a native Sodium lib and that we can
 drop the PHPUnit shims and start using PHPUnit 8.5 directly (as far as I
 see). Bumping to 7.4 would mean we can use PHPUnit 9.5 (latest) directly,
 etc.
 >
 > Or perhaps can try to come up with a schedule that tries to predict when
 the number of sites would fall under 5% and pre-announces the bumps (look
 at trends, etc.)?
 >
 > Still, imho, the best that can be done is to keep trying to convince the
 hosting companies to move WP sites to newer PHP versions. "Second best"
 would be to try to help the admins of sites on outdated PHP versions even
 more and to draw even more attention. Plugins like
 https://wordpress.org/plugins/php-compatibility-checker/ would still work
 afaik.

 Hi, it seems that you completely missed most important benefits which is
 standardization of minimum PHP version bumping process.

 Even core committers are not sure about process prior to your
 clarifications which clearly demonstrates the issue.

 If that is not good enough Indication of underlying issue, your current
 laid back behaviour further show the current WordPress situation.

 You need to step up and follow standard procedure instead of trying to
 find reasons to avoid it.

 Another benefit is that we can bump minimum PHP version in predictable
 manner instead of doing it when no other choice left.

 1. We can drop PHP 5.6 support in WP 6.2 which will be coming in 2 or 3
 months. In other words, users on PHP 5.6 will further drop by then.

 Once we dropped PHP 5.6 support, users on it will move to new PHP version
 faster and it will also motivate people on PHP 7.0/7.1 to upgrade.

 We will most likely be able to drop their support in WP 6.3 which will be
 released in 9 months or so.

 If that worked out fine, we can aim to further bump it to PHP 7.3 in WP
 6.4 which will be available in 1.5 years.

 Finally we can bump it to PHP 7.4 in WP 6.5/6.6 which will be released in
 next 2 to 3 years.

 There is no shortcut to it.

 I hope this makes you understand it's important.

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Ticket URL: <https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/57345#comment:48>
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