[wp-trac] [WordPress Trac] #57345: Bump the minimum required PHP version to 7.0 (was: Bump the minimum required PHP version to 7.2)

[WordPress Trac]

#57345: Bump the minimum required PHP version to 7.0
--------------------------------------+---------------------
 Reporter:  SergeyBiryukov            |       Owner:  (none)
     Type:  task (blessed)            |      Status:  new
 Priority:  normal                    |   Milestone:  6.3
Component:  General                   |     Version:
 Severity:  normal                    |  Resolution:
 Keywords:  has-patch has-unit-tests  |     Focuses:
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Changes (by johnbillion):

 * keywords:  has-patch has-unit-tests 2nd-opinion => has-patch has-unit-
               tests
 * milestone:  Future Release => 6.3


Old description:

> Background: #16917, #33381, #46594, #51043.
>
> Per discussion in #51043, specifically comment:16:ticket:51043 and
> comment:26:ticket:51043, for WordPress to consider dropping support for
> PHP 5.6 or 7.0, these versions need to get below 5% usage, regardless of
> the WordPress version used on those sites.
>
> As of 17 Dec 2022, that happened:
> * PHP 5.6 is at 4.99% of all WordPress sites
> * PHP 7.0 is at 2.68%
> * PHP 7.1 is at 1.82%
>
> Per discussion with @azaozz, this means we can bump the minimum required
> PHP version to 7.2, and start preparations for bumping it to 7.4 in the
> foreseeable future.
>
> This ticket aims to determine the specific minor PHP version in the 7.2
> branch to bump to, as well as to track any other tasks related to the
> bump.
>
> Previously:
> * #46594 Bumping the minimum PHP version to 5.6 in WordPress 5.2
> * #16917 Bumping the minimum PHP version to 5.2 in WordPress 3.2

New description:

 Background: #16917, #33381, #46594, #51043.

 Per discussion in #51043, specifically comment:16:ticket:51043 and
 comment:26:ticket:51043, for WordPress to consider dropping support for
 PHP 5.6 or 7.0, these versions need to get below 5% usage, regardless of
 the WordPress version used on those sites.

 As of 17 Dec 2022, that happened:
 * PHP 5.6 is at 4.99% of all WordPress sites
 * PHP 7.0 is at 2.68%
 * PHP 7.1 is at 1.82%

 Per discussion with @azaozz, this means we can bump the minimum required
 PHP version. We're going to aim for 7.0, not 7.2 as previously discussed
 on this ticket.

 This ticket aims to determine the specific minor PHP version in the 7.0
 branch to bump to, as well as to track any other tasks related to the
 bump.

 Previously:
 * #46594 Bumping the minimum PHP version to 5.6 in WordPress 5.2
 * #16917 Bumping the minimum PHP version to 5.2 in WordPress 3.2

--

Comment:

 My vote goes to 6.3. We've got almost three months and we're already
 within the self-imposed metrics for such a change. I've updated the ticket
 details accordingly.

 For anyone reading along, this does not mean this will ''definitely''
 happen in 6.3, just that it is being proposed. I will draft a make/core
 post and ask some other committers for input.

-- 
Ticket URL: <https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/57345#comment:87>
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