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Date: Wed, 4 Feb 2026 18:16:37 +0100
Message-ID: <CAMzRQTcC2eEBJ1HdxP-E6GzdWh6gYPNGz=Z8fyVrd6w1_+xLFw@mail.gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [PHP-DEV] [Vote] Add form feed as a whitespace character in trim,
 ltrim and rtrim
To: Ben Ramsey <ramsey@php.net>
Cc: internals@lists.php.net
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From: volker@tideways-gmbh.com (Volker Dusch)

On Fri, Jan 30, 2026 at 1:39=E2=80=AFAM Ben Ramsey <ramsey@php.net> wrote:
>
> I've voted "no" on this RFC since the RFC says the proposed PHP version
> is PHP 8.5, which I interpret as meaning PHP 8.6, since 8.5 was released
> in November.
>
> Even if PHP 8.6 is the proposed version, I still think the target
> version should be PHP 9.0, since this is a BC break. I mentioned my
> concern about this being a BC break in the discussion thread.
>
> The RFC is also clear this is a BC break. It says:
>
>  > This is a **backward incompatible change**. Scripts that rely on
>  > `trim()` *preserving* leading or trailing Form Feed characters will
>  > be affected.
>
> I'm a little surprised by the number of folks who voted "yes" on this,
> despite it being very clear this is a BC break and PHP "Next" is the
> implied proposed version.
>
> Cheers,
> Ben
>
>

I would urge you to reconsider. Pushing all bug fixes with extremely
minor BC implications into a single release that happens every 5-7
years will create problems with adoption.

This fix should, imho, very clearly go into 8.6.

Every minor ships with a BC list. E.g.
https://www.php.net/manual/en/migration85.incompatible.php and there
is nothing I can think of that is more minor than this change (maybe
except adding deprecations).

Kind regards,
Volker

--=20
Volker Dusch
Head of Engineering
Tideways GmbH
K=C3=B6nigswinterer Str. 116
53227 Bonn
https://tideways.io/imprint

Sitz der Gesellschaft: Bonn
Gesch=C3=A4ftsf=C3=BChrer: Benjamin Au=C3=9Fenhofer (geb. Eberlei)
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