[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 azaozz):

 Replying to [comment:48 snoringdragon]:

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

 If by "standardization" you mean enforcing some written rules, I don't
 think it's needed. Deciding when to bump the minimum PHP and MySQL
 versions doesn't have to follow some (stifling) rules but is instead quite
 open. [https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/57345?replyto=48#comment:29
 I've outlined above] what has worked in the past and the decisions that
 were made about bumping minimum versions (as far as I remember).

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

 Not sure what "standard procedure" is in this context. As with other
 infrequent tasks that affect a large number of users, each bump would
 ideally be proposed on https://make.wordpress.org/core/ and has to be
 approved by the project leadership, i.e. Matt or Josepha.

 If it was possible, and was up to me, the minimum PHP version would have
 been 7.4 couple of years ago. However bear in mind that each bump comes at
 a cost. The cost is "users left behind" and it pretty high. When looking
 from this point of view:

 - Total number of WordPress sites: 37m (most conservative number, counts
 WP networks as one site (afaik), comes from
 https://trends.builtwith.com/cms/WordPress).
 - 5% requirement for bumping = 1,850,000 sites.
 - Estimating half will be updated by the bump date, 925,000 sites remain.
 - Estimating half of these are not maintained, 462,500 active sites are
 left behind.

 Can you imagine standing in front of 462,500 people and telling them
 "Sorry, may not be your fault but no more updates for you". Eventually
 most of these sites will (slowly) be moved to newer PHP versions, but not
 all.

 Imho to bump minimum versions and leave behind ~460k users the new version
 would have to bring some benefits for the remaining WP users. I don't see
 what benefits are there in bumping to PHP 7.0. Even bumping to 7.2 may not
 be particularly beneficial accosting to
 [https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/57345#comment:47 jrf's comment
 above].

 > 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.
 >
 > 2. 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.
 >
 > 3. 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.
 >
 > 4. 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.

 Yes, an estimated schedule (emphasis on "estimated") can probably be
 posted together with the next proposal to bump the minimum PHP version.
 Still, bumping the minimum version "just for the sake of bumping" (without
 any benefits for anybody) doesn't feel fair to the users that will be left
 behind.

-- 
Ticket URL: <https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/57345#comment:54>
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