[horde] Horde_Imap_Client-2.3.1 does not work

[Vilius Šumskas]

Michael M Slusarz <slusarz at horde.org> rašė:

> Quoting Michael M Slusarz <slusarz at horde.org>:
>
>> I can't stress enough that while we only require PHP 5.3.0, people  
>> should REALLY be using the most-up-to date PHP versions and should  
>> NOT be using PHP versions installed via a distribution package.
>
> To clarify:
>
> It's one thing to be an API change that was made in a specific PHP  
> version.  This can be worked around and is known at the time the  
> code is written.
>
> However, the present issue is entirely a PHP issue - not a Horde/IMP  
> issue.  The code added to Horde/IMP is 100% valid code according to  
> the PHP 5.3 documentation.
>
> The problem is that people are relying on 2+ year old software.   
> Distribution packaging may work for a user application.  It does not  
> work for a package that contains a documented, final-word API, like  
> PHP.
>
> Running a 2 year old programming language interpreter (+ security  
> patches!) is not acceptable in the real world.  This is just another  
> example.

I'm sorry, but I have to oppose this view.

Running PHP version from distribution packages has a lot of advantages  
over compiled ones. Platform stability, backward compatibility, easy  
software management, larger support lifecycle, less TCO, etc. This is  
why binary distributions are so much popular than compilled ones. And  
I really don't see that changing in a near future.

 From a programmer perspective I understand that every developer wants  
that his software could use as few hacks as possible, to use the  
newest interpreter features as possible. But you have to understand  
that system owners run PHP not because they want to, but because it is  
one of the dependencies of Horde. If they can't run Horde on at least  
newest distributions (which all RHEL, CentOS, debian, Ubuntu bundles  
PHP 5.3.3 at the moment) they won't be running Horde at all. The  
distributions are like walls between software developers and system  
owners. The administrators/owners trust that every update is tested  
and compatibile (at leasst at some level) with all the platform.  
Compiling software by hand demands that every software should be  
extensively tested before production deployment. Hence increasing TCO  
consiredably.

To rephrase, if Horde developers have chosen PHP as a language, then  
they must obey the rules of the language. If it is buggy and breaks  
compatibility in ugly way, they must hack.

By the way there is nothing wrong if the software is 2 or more years  
old. It doesn't say anything about the quality or stability.

-- 
   Vilius