[TYPO3-core] PHP version requirement

[JoH asenau]

>> The problem many developers and users got with how things are currently
>> handled in the core team is, that it seems there is a gap between the
>> way some core devs think things should be working and the real life
>> scenarios, especially admins still have to deal with.
>
> There are some very conservative system administrators out there. Others
> provide their systems with the latest versions of software and possible
> have a range of versions available.

It's not about admins being conservative, but about admins being not 
allowed to do upgrades however they like, just because they have to take 
care of a lot more software packages than this one special TYPO3 version.

If there is just one important piece of software that requires a lower 
PHP version, this will block the whole upgrade procedure until there is 
a version available that will run on the higher one.

>> Especially in enterprise environments you won't always get the cutting
>> edge version of your favorite OS, PHP and other necessary software. This
>> is due to the fact that there are many other pieces of software running
>> in the same environment on umpteen thousands of servers and
>> workstations, with some of them taking Millions of Euros to have them
>> working on latest OS versions. This is something that must be taken into
>> account _before_ implementing major changes to the core of a CMS that
>> claims to play on enterprise level.
>
> A pretty large and well known hosting company offers a choice between
> various PHP versions to their customers (IIRC the customer can set the
> PHP version for each domain). If they can do that, the system
> administrators of large companies should also be able to do that.
> It seems that some translate "enterprise" to "keep using outdated
> software for decades".

Exactly that is the point, despite the fact that you seem to have 
another definition of "outdated" than the policies of the global 
players: It's not about being able to do it, but about being able to pay 
for it. Keeping software as long as it is supported by the major 
software companies is the daily business we have to deal with, since any 
upgrade will cost you additional Millions of Euros (not just for the 
licenses but for the actual work as well). Having as many systems 
running exactly the same software in exactly the same configuration is 
the other one, since it will get harder to support the systems with any 
exception you are willing to make. This means i.e.: Supporting IE6 until 
the end of the lifetime of Win XP, which is 2014 IIRC, with IE8 being 
the only exception allowed on some special systems but no FF or Chrome.

If you have to upgrade hundreds of thousands of servers and clients of 
your intranet with every new version of OS, browser, you name it - even 
if an upgrade will take just a few minutes - this will cost you a seven 
digit amount per upgrade. This is why it has to be avoided wherever 
possible until the end of lifetime of the software.

So the mountain is there, and it's actually a lot bigger than the 
molehill you assume it to be :-)

Cheers

Joey

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