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Subject: Re: [PHP-DEV] Experimental features
From: rowan.collins@gmail.com (Rowan Tommins)

Hi all,

I'm still not convinced everyone on this thread is actually talking 
about the same idea.

For instance, on whether an experimental feature would require the same 
consensus as a non-experimental one:


On 11/10/2022 00:06, Mike Schinkel wrote:
> If there were an RFC for Experimental Use then the people on the fence could choose to allow it to see how it plays out in real-world userland cases, and a few people against it might be convinced to allow people to evaluate it, and then later make a decision on a "Forever RFC."

On 11/10/2022 05:38, Jordan LeDoux wrote:
> I don't really see what the confusion is about. It's for features that we
> have all agreed to include, but that the public API or behavior might
> change in minor versions while usage information, feedback, and so-on
> happens.


Similarly, some are talking about getting features to users sooner, but 
others about leaving it experimental for as long as it takes, which 
means it gets to production *later* than if it was tested in the 
existing alpha/beta cycle.


I think it would be really helpful to have some concrete examples, 
either from other languages, or of a hypothetical feature that you think 
would be a good use case clarifying:

* How it would be accepted as experimental - would it require the same 
voting threshold etc as a "stable" feature?
* When would it be released - in PHP terms, if it was voted on in April 
this year, would it have gone into 8.1.5 or waited until 8.2.0?
* What is the process for changes? Would they require votes? Would they 
go into point releases like 8.1.9 or 8.2.5, or wait until 8.3.0?
* What is the process for marking stable? Would it require another vote? 
What version would *that* go into?


I'm not saying we have to have final answers to these questions, but it 
would be helpful to understand people's gut feeling on them, to get a 
better idea of what people are imagining.

Regards,

-- 
Rowan Tommins
[IMSoP]