[wp-trac] [WordPress Trac] #51043: PHP: bump minimum version requirements

[WordPress Trac]

#51043: PHP: bump minimum version requirements
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 Reporter:  jrf             |       Owner:  (none)
     Type:  task (blessed)  |      Status:  closed
 Priority:  normal          |   Milestone:
Component:  General         |     Version:
 Severity:  normal          |  Resolution:  wontfix
 Keywords:  has-patch       |     Focuses:
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Comment (by matt):

 Thank you for the feedback @jb510, it's definitely true that if you decide
 some of those sites aren't active or relevant, it doesn't feel like such a
 big deal to leave them behind. But even if you slice it super narrowly and
 take just sites on WP 5.4 or 5.5, that have pinged within the past two
 months, and running PHP 5.6... that's still more than 1.2 million sites.
 One million is hard to visualize, but
 [https://trends.builtwith.com/cms/Drupal Builtwith tracks about half a
 million Drupal sites], so imagine two whole Drupals worth of sites being
 unable to upgrade because of a choice we made, which is something to
 consider very carefully.

 As an update, I wanted to thank @jrf for hopping on a call with me
 yesterday. I think we both understand each other a lot better, and I felt
 like we're in strong agreement that WP should support PHP8 before it's
 released, that we both want people on the latest and greatest versions of
 WP and PHP. I also have a better understanding of the places we differ,
 for example in dropping support for prior PHP versions on a time-based
 schedule versus a hurdle-based approach. She shared a great presentation
 advocating for a time-based approach and I asked for it to be shared on
 the make/core P2 as well which I believe is going up soon.

 I appreciate her taking the time to talk, and it's a good reminder that we
 can debate ideas and direction vigorously while not making it about the
 person, we should always search for deeper understanding, and we can
 disagree and commit and still work together the next day.

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Ticket URL: <https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/51043#comment:26>
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