CMS Made Simple Forums

I've just found CMSms and was deciding to try it but just read that the next version will be php5 only. What will happen with the current php4 version (as of 20th Apr)? Will current version be unsupported with no new modules/whatever being updated for it, or current ones being improved, as developers etc concentrate on the new shiny version?
Naturally those who can will be interested in upgrading (I'd imagine) .... I'm afraid of being left all alone (and possibly jealous)!

My server, where I am very happy, uses php4 and afaik has no plan to upgrade, so this makes a real difference to my CMS choice...

ta

By the time CMSms v2.0 (the one which requires PHP5) comes out, your host may support PHP5 too. The CMSms v1 to v2 transition is close to the hosters PHP4 to PHP5 transition.
Pierre M.

That's a catch22 for me so.

CMS I'm using for years uses php4 or php5 but the new shiny version just out has changed a lot of the basics and just doesn't suit me (for those I'd be building for) anymore. CMSms admin does seem to suit us (or might if I get around the themes LOL) but php5 could be a problem.... looks like a tough decision ahead.


ta

Hello aprilla,

aprilla wrote: That's a catch22 for me so.

I'm not a native English speaker. I don't know this "catch22" expression. Please explain what it means. Thanks in advance.
Pierre M.

From wikipedia :

describing a general situation in which an individual has to accomplish two actions, both of which are dependent on the completion of the other[1]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catch-22_(logic)

Thank you styson.
Well, aprilla, I think there will be no dilemna. Before CMSms will *require* it, the (good) hosting providers will *add* php5 support. Meanwhile, php4 is ok.
Pierre M.

You can not guarantee that a web host will upgrade to PHP5.
I also would like answers to the following questions:

a) Which next version (major, minor, etc) will require PHP5 and when is it due?

b) How long will essential bug fix and security support for the old PHP4 version go on?

Thank you,
James

Hello James,

I'm not in the dev team, but according to what I have read in the forums :
a)2.0, which is expected before 2008.
b)I think everybody will want to upgrade, so the support for 1.0 and 1.1 won't be much extended after 2.0 is out.

As 1.1 may come before summer 2007, I bet everybody will be on 1.1 and upgrade to 2.0 when 2.0 is out. I don't know technically how (because of the jump of the PHP requirement) but I'm confident there will be an upgrade path and no need to maintain the old 1.x.

You can read Dev Team members statements about these by searching here for "2.0".

Pierre M.

Point of information:

Catch-22 comes from the novel of the same name by Heller, and the term catch-22 is originally the name for a fictional military directive that helps force soldiers to continue to fight in the war. An example would be that only a crazy person would fight in a war, so if you say that you can't fight in a war, you obviously aren't crazy, so you should not be excused from fighting in the war. There's a scene in the book where the protagonist, Yossarian, says, "that's quite a catch," and another character replies something like, "yep, it's the best we've got."

Heller ACTUALLY wanted to call it Catch-17, but his publisher convinced him to change the title because there was already a novel with 17 in the title published that year.

I highly recommend the book; it deals with WWII but it's definitely stood up to time. I furthermore suggest that one of the smaller updates to CMSMS be named Pianosa in its honor, since Pacific islands are presumably finite. Pianosa is the name of the fictional island on which a lot of the action in the novel occurs.

Pierre M. wrote: a)2.0, which is expected before 2008.
b)I think everybody will want to upgrade, so the support for 1.0 and 1.1 won't be much extended after 2.0 is out.

Thanks for the information. I'm actually in the slightly bizarre situation of hoping version 2.0 is not until winter then ... I'm about to set up a website for a client who runs a summer business and they are on a PHP4 only host - so any downtime associated with a major upgrade would be better after the summer when it won't matter so much. According to the road map version 2.0 is expected "End of 3.Q 2007" so I'm just going to go for it.

And seconded about Catch-22 being a great book.

well, even if 2.0 is out before the winter, upgrading is your choice.... in a situation like that, I'd be hard pressed to upgrade before the end of the season anyways, unless there was a darned good reason to.

Its not my choice if a security hole or major bug is found in version 1.X, and noone bothers to release a fix to it because version 2.0 has been released .... that's why I was asking how long the old version is going to be supported. I know in a OS project there can be no guarantees but I was just after some rough idea of the timetable  ....

This may seem pernicity, but despite Pierre's optimistic statements there are still many people stuck on PHP4.

Thanks for all the information,
James

After 2.0 is  released, I can't see much new development going into the 1.x series, but security fixes, and absolutely critical enhancements would probably be maintained for some time. maybe 6 months to a year.

We maintain branches each time a new release is issued so that we can generate patches or point releases as necessary to fix any critical issues that come out.

Brilliant, Thanks

JamesB wrote: a) Which next version (major, minor, etc) will require PHP5 and when is it due?

The following question for me is - which PHP5 version will v2.0 needed?

Think only versions greater than 5.2.1 are really useable ...