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Date: Mon, 02 Sep 2013 01:38:26 -0700
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Subject: When will 5.2 binaries be retired from windows.php.net?
From: thruska@cubiclesoft.com (Thomas Hruska)

It is approaching 2 1/2 years since the last release of PHP 5.2.  5.2 
has been declared dead on more than one occasion around here.  The dust 
has more or less settled since PHP 5.3 EOL was announced.  The ONLY 
reason I still support 5.2 in my own userland software is because the 
5.2 binaries are available on windows.php.net.  There are some things 
I'd like to do that are only available in the core in 5.3 and later but 
I won't do them until the binaries for 5.2 disappear from the website. 
I like to make sure I reach the widest possible, yet rationally 
supportable audience.  As such, I figure that generally supporting 
whatever users can download from an official source is a good logical 
cutoff point.

Is the issue the 5.2 binaries haven't been retired due to 5.2 being 
compiled with VC6?  VC10 and VC11 runtimes fixed a lot of the issues 
that the VC8 and VC9 runtimes had.  I've dropped VC11 runtimes into the 
same directory as the PHP 5.5 binaries and they seem to work fine on 
hosts without VC11 on them.  That is a huge improvement over the VC9 
runtimes, which are a nightmare to work with from both a development and 
deployment perspective.

What I'm NOT saying is that the 5.2 binaries should come down right now. 
  What I am saying is that the discussion and the plan formulated for 
their removal should take place if it hasn't already.

-- 
Thomas Hruska
CubicleSoft President

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