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

[WordPress Trac]

#23880: Minimum PHP version in Plugins
-----------------------------+------------------------------
 Reporter:  TJNowell         |       Owner:
     Type:  feature request  |      Status:  new
 Priority:  normal           |   Milestone:  Awaiting Review
Component:  Plugins          |     Version:
 Severity:  normal           |  Resolution:
 Keywords:                   |
-----------------------------+------------------------------

Comment (by MikeSchinkel):

 Replying to [comment:25 TJNowell]:
 > Performance wise, doing it in Core would be better. Instead of every
 plugin checking itself, repeating the check over and over again, Core
 should do it all at once, giving the following benefits:
 >
 >  * Saves plugin developers time

 There are many things people request be included in core that get denied
 yet all of them save developers time, so not a winning justification.
 Believe me, I've had many requests denied.

 >  * Provides a means of warning users before they go through the hassle
 of uploading and installing the plugin

 Is that really that such a hassle? Not ideal I know, but so bad we have to
 fix it?

 >  * Can be cached in the database, so no checks may be needed at all if
 the plugins don't change version

 Version checks are very lightweight.  If the plugin is disabled when it's
 found to be on PHP 5.2.x then the check is not done over and over. Or the
 plugin can cache in the database too.

 > To force every plugin to do this check and have an unnecessary level of
 indirection is to encourage bad design, and demonstrates poor architecture
 that's fixable.

 There any many other things plugins are forced to do on their own, many of
 which I'd like to see implemented, so line forms in the rear if "bad
 design" is the justification. :)

 > There's all this talk about plugins in wordpress.org should be 5.2
 compatible just as WordPress is, but:
 >
 >  * Nobody actually justified this

 Maybe you missed it or misread but [http://wordpress.org/about/stats/
 62.3% of the current user base in on 5.2.x]. There's the justification.

 >  * Not all WordPress installs run the latest version, and thus not all
 installs have the 5.2 min req yet ( though this is a problem in its own
 right )

 Currently 2.3% are on < 5.2.x so while a problem it's a small problem and
 IMO many of those sites have likely not been touched in years thus not
 likely to run into a problem with plugins.

 > * Everyone talks about WordPress being more than just a blog, if that's
 the case we should ask responsibly and professionally and expand our scope
 beyond the limited usecase of a new user loading plugins off of
 wordpress.org. A lot of client work goes on, and we can't anticipate all
 the end cases, so lets take care of the basics and at least fail
 gracefully rather than showing a white screen of death in various cases

 If you are doing client work aren't you operating a higher level?  Can't
 you validate this on your own? Don't you build sites on a test domain
 before deploying to a live server? Don't you make sure that your clients
 are running on PHP 5.3 or later?  For professional work, I think this is a
 non-issue.

 '''NOTE:''' I have absolutely zero authority over what gets included in
 core so I'm just voicing my opinion, same as you are voicing yours.  One
 thing that might help would be for you to explain why this has caused such
 an issue for you?  Clearly you are passionate about it, maybe there is
 some explicit real world problem it as caused for you (vs. an abstract
 problem) that if we understood we could better appreciate?

 P.S. If your request was to instead have WordPress.org scan the files for
 PHP 5.3 features and automatically mark them as PHP 5.3 required I would
 think it a better idea.  By adding a Minimum PHP required tag you would be
 creating a trinary state: know good, known bad and unknown. If you can't
 make it known good vs. known bad I think this proposal has less value.

 P.P.S. This is likely my last comment on this because I don't actually
 feel that strongly about it, it just seemed that nobody else was
 mentioning the perspective I was seeing.

-- 
Ticket URL: <http://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/23880#comment:28>
WordPress Trac <http://core.trac.wordpress.org/>
WordPress blogging software