Make timing of PHP's major versions more predictable

[FleetingCloud]

Hi, there

Currently, there seems to be no official policy regarding how many minor versions will be between each major version of PHP (i.e whether PHP 9 will be after 8.4 etc)

Is it possible for Foundation or anyone else to perhaps put together a RFC which make this more consistent?
In order to keep things non-controversial, it should explicitely state that RFC doesn't propose/make any changes regarding curent situation of when BC breaks are allowed or when things can be deprecated.
This RFC will only intend/propose to make timing of major versions more predictable.

It can be done by number of ways.

Easiest method is to simply have 4 minor versions between each major.
Other option is to have 4 minors versions by default BUT more minors can be added by passing separate RFC.
Finally, it can at least specify minimum and maximum numbers of minor versions there can be.

This change will benefit everyone in PHP ecosystem.
For Internals: RFCs can be better judged as there will be more predictable timeline for next major version.
For Others: They can plan things better.

Also, maybe next version after PHP 8.4 should be PHP 9?

Anyway, thanks all for your work.

Cc @pronskiy

[pronskiy]

Thanks for reaching out. I do share some of your concerns. We do not plan to address them immediately, but we will definitely think about it.

PHP does not follow semver, which means that 8.1, 8.2. etc. are technically not minor. In fact, they can have BC breaks in them. This is the current status quo.

The PHP Foundation team proposed and introduced changes to the release cycle earlier this year: https://wiki.php.net/rfc/release_cycle_update. And we will continue to improve the process.

[FleetingCloud]

Hi, sorry for delayed response.

PHP does not follow semver

What I am suggesting is not exactly semver.
It's something more unique just for PHP.

As I initially said:

In order to keep things non-controversial, it should explicitely state that RFC doesn't propose/make any changes regarding curent situation of when BC breaks are allowed or when things can be deprecated.

So bacially I am just suggesting to make major's timing more consistent, nothing more. I don't think there is any chance for any RFC proposing semver to pass.

Thanks for all your great work.