[wp-trac] [WordPress Trac] #53432: Fatal error during update to 5.8 of a site with an active Gutenberg plugin (version less than 10.7) (was: Fatal error during update to 5.8 of a site with an active Gutenberg plugin (version less than 10.8.4))

[WordPress Trac]

#53432: Fatal error during update to 5.8 of a site with an active Gutenberg plugin
(version less than 10.7)
-----------------------------------------+-----------------------------
 Reporter:  oglekler                     |       Owner:  hellofromTonya
     Type:  defect (bug)                 |      Status:  assigned
 Priority:  normal                       |   Milestone:  5.8
Component:  Upgrade/Install              |     Version:  trunk
 Severity:  normal                       |  Resolution:
 Keywords:  has-screenshots needs-patch  |     Focuses:
-----------------------------------------+-----------------------------
Changes (by hellofromTonya):

 * keywords:  has-screenshots => has-screenshots needs-patch
 * owner:  (none) => hellofromTonya
 * status:  new => assigned


Comment:

 I was able to reproduce the problem with Gutenberg plugin versions less
 than 10.7, but not with 10.7+.

 Why does this happen?

 The plugin already has the class loaded into memory. With 5.8, the class
 has been merged into core and is loaded by core. When updating to 5.8,
 there's a naming conflict as PHP does not allow overwriting a class (or
 function, trait, constant, etc.) once it's in memory. In this case, it's
 already in memory (via the plugin) when core tries to load it. Fatal
 error.

 Different solutions were discussed in slack
 ([https://wordpress.slack.com/archives/C02RQBWTW/p1623965403246200 see the
 thread here]) including guarding the load circuit in core. But a simple
 solution was proposed using [https://github.com/WordPress/wordpress-
 develop/blob/master/src/wp-admin/includes/update-core.php#L1660 a similar
 approach as this] to deactivate the Gutenberg plugin when the version is
 not compatible. In this case, < 10.7 is not compatible with WP 5.8. This
 solution would prevent other potential fatal errors of other files loaded
 later that might also be incompatible.

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Ticket URL: <https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/53432#comment:4>
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