41 replies to this topic

[kuemerle5]

Was just wondering if/when MDDHosting will be upgrading to PHP 5.3. I'm asking because a bug tracker I would like to use requires at least 5.3 (The Bug Genie). Thanks in advance for any responses!

[MikeDVB]

Since 5.3 breaks a lot of scripts our clients are using, we likely won't be upgrading to it anytime soon. When we do, we'll likely give a month or two notice.

[kuemerle5]

Since 5.3 breaks a lot of scripts our clients are using, we likely won't be upgrading to it anytime soon. When we do, we'll likely give a month or two notice.

Will you ever implement the option to choose between 5.2 and 5.3? I know that some web hosts offer this but I could only imagine than some configurations might not work like that.

[MikeDVB]

Will you ever implement the option to choose between 5.2 and 5.3? I know that some web hosts offer this but I could only imagine than some configurations might not work like that.

It's possible - I know that it's doable but we haven't planned on it just yet. What we're more likely to do is roll out a new server with 5.3 and give people the option to move to that new server if they want 5.3. Eventually all servers will be 5.3+ but I can't give an exact timeline on that.

[kuemerle5]

Cool. Thanks again!

[SnakEyez]

What we're more likely to do is roll out a new server with 5.3 and give people the option to move to that new server if they want 5.3.

If you are waiting for people to start moving in that direction sign me up. The only script I really rely on is IPB which is compatible with 5.3 and I have nothing that would require me to stay with the old version. So if you need volunteers for this new server I'm willing to have my name added to the list. I'm all for safe and stable, but when things reach end of life I'm all for moving forward.

So that makes 2 users. Any other takers out there?

[Charles]

I don't know if Gallery will work on PHP 5.3 or not. I will have to ask the developers.
If Gallery will work on PHP 5.3 I don't have a problem moving to PHP 5.3

[kuemerle5]

I don't know if Gallery will work on PHP 5.3 or not. I will have to ask the developers.
If Gallery will work on PHP 5.3 I don't have a problem moving to PHP 5.3

I would be so surprised if G3 didn't work on 5.3 just because most of the development of it happened while 5.3 was stable and it uses a somewhat popular PHP framework. That being said, it would more than likely work with 5.3.

I like the idea of this shared "test server" with 3 clients on it... Lol.

[MikeDVB]

It's not about having a lot of people wanting it - with the size of our client base I am sure there are a LOT of people who want 5.3. It's just that there's certainly a percentage of our current customers who would definitely leave if 5.3 became the only option.

I know it's possible to have 5.2 and 5.3 side-by-side but we've not quite set up rolling that out or decided how we're going to handle it.

[fshagan]

I'll be a dissenting voice; already, the 5.2.16 version of PHP 'breaks' scripts using certain deprecated functions like ereg and eregi. And not all the script authors have responded to that yet (and 5.2 has been out since 2009 or something).

I'm on a VPS so I think I have more control of when its updated, but barring security issues, I'm in no hurry to be on the "bleeding edge".

Of course, I'm not anticipating using new features not available in 5.2 either! That would make a difference.

[MikeDVB]

Yeah, being on a VPS you can run whatever version you desire - this is concerning shared/reseller/semi-dedicated servers

[fshagan]

It's good to be the king.

Except I think you're actually the king, and I'm just a prince!

[SnakEyez]

I'll be a dissenting voice; already, the 5.2.16 version of PHP 'breaks' scripts using certain deprecated functions like ereg and eregi. And not all the script authors have responded to that yet (and 5.2 has been out since 2009 or something).

I'm on a VPS so I think I have more control of when its updated, but barring security issues, I'm in no hurry to be on the "bleeding edge".

Of course, I'm not anticipating using new features not available in 5.2 either! That would make a difference.

I don't think anyone here is arguing if a business relies on 5.2 that they should be forced to upgrade right away. I think everyone is discussing choice. Some people think Windows XP is fine while others would say Windows 7 is better. And to put those both in perspective, there are many XP programs that are incompatible with Windows 7, and Windows 7 was released 5 months after PHP 5.3 (June 09->October 09. And to further that PHP 5.2 end of support date of 10/26/2010 and Windows XP end of support is 4/8/14. So based on your bleeding edge comment, would you say Windows 7 is a riskier investment than PHP 5.3 and agree that you would upgrade to PHP 5.3 before Windows 7?

[fshagan]

I don't think anyone here is arguing if a business relies on 5.2 that they should be forced to upgrade right away. I think everyone is discussing choice. Some people think Windows XP is fine while others would say Windows 7 is better. And to put those both in perspective, there are many XP programs that are incompatible with Windows 7, and Windows 7 was released 5 months after PHP 5.3 (June 09->October 09. And to further that PHP 5.2 end of support date of 10/26/2010 and Windows XP end of support is 4/8/14. So based on your bleeding edge comment, would you say Windows 7 is a riskier investment than PHP 5.3 and agree that you would upgrade to PHP 5.3 before Windows 7?

Well, what I would do for me is different than what I would do to 15 of my customers! But its a moot issue for me anyway, as I can control what version of PHP I'm using on the VPS.

[SnakEyez]

Well, what I would do for me is different than what I would do to 15 of my customers! But its a moot issue for me anyway, as I can control what version of PHP I'm using on the VPS.

A moot issue, but still a friendly discussion. No one is here to judge. I'm sorry you feel the need to stand politically correct in the middle, when it seems your expertise and insight could help make this topic very informative to novice users as this is a very common question with web hosting today.

To jump back to Charles' topic, G3 is designed to work with PHP 5.3 and from the bug tracker I can see from the development they were including PHP 5.3 bugs in there and what I seem to find suggests they most are fixed. Support was added at Beta 3 per their release.

[fshagan]

A moot issue, but still a friendly discussion. No one is here to judge. I'm sorry you feel the need to stand politically correct in the middle, when it seems your expertise and insight could help make this topic very informative to novice users as this is a very common question with web hosting today.

To jump back to Charles' topic, G3 is designed to work with PHP 5.3 and from the bug tracker I can see from the development they were including PHP 5.3 bugs in there and what I seem to find suggests they most are fixed. Support was added at Beta 3 per their release.

In a shared environment the overall impact has to be evaluated. I'm not really in the "politically correct middle", but don't have a real dog in the fight, so to speak. For my customers, pushing the upgrade wouldn't make sense. For MDD's customers, Mike feels the same way right now. You ARE his customers and so its appropriate to raise the issue and discuss it.

Beyond what I would do because I have seen the impact of upgrades on existing sites, I don't have any special expertise.

[MikeDVB]

We've had some positive results in testing php 5.2 and 5.3 side-by-side. We're still doing some testing to ensure that implementing this won't cause any issues for anybody. Hopefully we'll be able to make an announcement about it soon

[kuemerle5]

We've had some positive results in testing php 5.2 and 5.3 side-by-side. We're still doing some testing to ensure that implementing this won't cause any issues for anybody. Hopefully we'll be able to make an announcement about it soon

w00t! Well, I'm about as pumped as possible when it comes to upgrading PHP versions I guess...

[MikeDVB]

Haha

[MikeDVB]

Haha Well we'll post it here first