RE: [phplib] [RFC] Future of phplib From: Chris Johnson (chris <email protected>)
Date: 07/23/01

I'm still here and I've been applying bug patches and fixes as I've had
time. In fact, other than Ulf's massive CVS commits, I've probably been
the second largest maker of changes.

I'll admit I've not had as much time to work on it as I thought I would,
nor done as good a job as I could have. However, I had hoped that most
people would work somewhat independently and only rely on me for
coordination when necessary. I am hesitant to provide direction at the
level of "Fred, go fix this bug, test it and document it and get back to
us."

But maybe there needs to be some other level of direction? I thought
that we had agreed on a plan for 7.2d as follows: fix known bugs with
known patches from mailing list, and finish incorporating the PHP4
session stuff. Polish up to a reasonable package and release. Maybe my
understanding was much different than others! If so, I apologize.

However, it's all water under the bridge (i.e. in the past) now. Let's
try to reach a consensus on which way to go now.

My current feeling is we should migrate to SourceForge, as suggested by
Nathan. I strong disagree with the few people who say that the ONLY way
to go is to integrate with PEAR.

A few smart people from this list made a number of efforts to work with
PEAR crowd. The result was that PHPLib would be essentially broken
apart and partially adopted here and there. Doing that ruins one of the
key benefits of using PHPLIB: it's integrated; it works well with all
of its parts. Additionally, there was a bad attitude of Not Invented
Here among PEAR people with respect to PHPLIB, and a number of people
noted that PHPLIB implemented a number of features in a far better and
efficient way than PEAR.

To me, that means moving PHPLIB to PEAR results in:
1) I have to rewrite large portions of my several applications which
currently use PHPLIB.
2) I end up with PEAR code that is slower and less efficient.
3) I have to wait another year or so before PEAR gets its act together
and actually releases this stuff in a usable state.

My job is to get the job done, so to speak. I'm not paid to love PHPLIB
or recommend it. I get paid for making good design and development
decisions. PEAR looks like a pain in the neck and a huge cost hole.

On a personal basis -- I use PHPLIB for personal projects, too -- the
attitude of the PEAR people is a negative. PHPLIB people have been
historically very helpful and friendly, as well as open-minded. Thus,
PEAR looks like a pain in the neck from this angle, as well.

I'm not opposed to the concept of PEAR at all. Having a bunch of
options in the PHP install that let you pick and choose from a large
repository of available libraries and extensions (as PEAR wants to be
and as CPAN currently is) is a great idea. But the current
implementation and politics of PEAR are detrimental, and the bottom line
is not attractive.

Chris Johnson

> -----Original Message-----
> From: fred <email protected> [mailto:fred <email protected>]

> Back in March we made some stumbling steps in this direction, with (as
> I recall it) Chris Johnson taking the lead and several of us working
> with KK to get CVS logins on phplib.netuse.de so that we could work on
> patches.
>
> But since then there's been no plan or direction from Chris (again,
> AFAIK). Chris, are you still there? I'm still willing to put in a
> few hours here and there to apply patches to PHPlib. 

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