[wp-trac] [WordPress Trac] #48435: WordPress update: updating by transferring partial packages

[WordPress Trac]

#48435: WordPress update: updating by transferring partial packages
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 Reporter:  LittleBigThing   |      Owner:  (none)
     Type:  enhancement      |     Status:  new
 Priority:  normal           |  Milestone:  Awaiting Review
Component:  Upgrade/Install  |    Version:
 Severity:  normal           |   Keywords:
  Focuses:  performance      |
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 This is a request or enhancement, more than a bug. It is inspired by
 looking at https://wordpress.org/download/counter/ and the mostly unknown
 impact of the internet
 ([https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/sep/25/server-data-centre-
 emissions-air-travel-web-google-facebook-greenhouse-gas]) on our
 environment.

 Disclaimer: I am not technical enough to be able to judge the impact of
 this request or the possibility of implementing it. Nevertheless...

 So, WordPress' size is increasing with every release. Its size determines
 how much electricity is needed to transfer the zip file from server to
 server. Since the internet is still largely running on non-renewable
 energy, each WP install and update has an impact on the environment. It
 would be great to reduce this impact.co2

 I think that there is a lot of thinking about what gets into WP core, but
 it is always interesting to reconsider things or at least keep the impact
 of adding another library in mind.

 However, I wonder whether it could be possible to update WP without having
 to transfer the whole package. If this is already the case: great, please
 close this ticket! Thanks and I am sorry. We're doing fine. ;-)
 If not, could we consider to implement something like updating WP by
 sending only the parts that are necessary (modified)? This would not only
 decrease the impact of each update on the environment, but also make
 updates much quicker.

 I realise that this means adding additional complexity. There should be
 packages available for different cases. For example, an update from 4.9 to
 5.3 would be a different package than from 5.2 to 5.3. Also for minor
 updates. We could start incrementally, like minor updates?
 If I am not mistaken, this is how operating system updates happen for
 Apple OS and Windows.

 Oh, WP 5.2 has been downloaded about 1000 times **while writing this
 ticket**. ''That is roughly about 16 kg of CO2 emitted and equals to
 driving more than 120 km (75 miles) by car (130 g CO2/km
 (https://ec.europa.eu/clima/policies/transport/vehicles/cars_en)).

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Ticket URL: <https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/48435>
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