# Release Managers for PHP 8.6

- Thread: https://externals.io/message/130240
- Original archive: https://news-web.php.net/php.internals/130240
- Started by Volker Dusch on 2026-03-03T15:38:58+00:00
- Messages: 15
- RFC: Release Manager Selection (Accepted) — https://externals.io/rfc/release_manager_selection_policy.md
- Reply by email to internals@lists.php.net
- More for agents: search with https://externals.io/search.md?q={query} · RFCs at https://externals.io/rfc.md · JSON API at https://externals.io/api · documentation at https://externals.io/llms.txt

---

## #130240 — Volker Dusch — 2026-03-03T15:38:58+00:00

URL: https://externals.io/message/130240#130240

Hey folks,

Every year in March we start the process of finding candidates who
want to volunteer as Release Managers (RMs) for the next PHP release.

We are looking for two new (rookie) RMs and one veteran RM.

Should you be elected, you will be guided and helped by the current,
as well as previous RMs and the documentation in release-process.md
[1].

To perform the tasks outlined in [1], candidates should:
- be confident contributing to and working with the PHP internals mailing list.
- understand PHP's backward compatibility guarantees - including where
they do not apply.
- be able to triage bugs, in collaboration with core developers.
- liaise effectively with previous release managers.
- have a working knowledge of Git, including branching and merging.

... as these skills reflect the key responsibilities you will take on
as a release manager.

Ideally, at least one of the candidates for the rookie RM role should
have some experience with php-src as the ability to assess more
technical PR's will come in handy. Other candidates do not necessarily
need to have deep knowledge of internals but should understand the
above-mentioned points.

You should be confident that you can volunteer a couple of hours on
one Tuesday and Thursday every other month over the coming years.
Additionally, extra time will be required in the month leading up to
the .0 release as the alpha/beta/RC phases are more frequent and more
decisions have to be made there.


Please put your name forward here if you wish to be considered a candidate.
An initial "TODO" page exists on the wiki and contains provisional
dates for GA and pre-releases [2].

You can apply until the 30th of March. Voting will start on the 31st of March.


If you have any questions on the process, check out the post from my
co-RM Daniel [3] that goes into more detail. Also, feel free to reach
out to me, or Daniel, if you have further questions.

[1] https://github.com/php/php-src/blob/master/docs/release-process.md
[2] https://wiki.php.net/todo/php86
[3] https://scherzer.dev/Blog/20260218-release-manager-notes

PHP is a community-driven project, and your help would be greatly appreciated.

Your 8.5 RMs,
Volker, Daniel, and Pierrick

---

## #130241 — Joe Ferguson — 2026-03-03T16:17:52+00:00

URL: https://externals.io/message/130240#130241 · In reply to: #130240

Hello Internals,

I'd like to put my name forward for a rookie 8.6 Release Manager position.
I've followed the project for several years and would like to help.

- Joe Ferguson




> Hey folks,
>
> Every year in March we start the process of finding candidates who
> want to volunteer as Release Managers (RMs) for the next PHP release.
>
> We are looking for two new (rookie) RMs and one veteran RM.
>
> Should you be elected, you will be guided and helped by the current,
> as well as previous RMs and the documentation in release-process.md
> [1].
>
> To perform the tasks outlined in [1], candidates should:
> - be confident contributing to and working with the PHP internals mailing
> list.
> - understand PHP's backward compatibility guarantees - including where
> they do not apply.
> - be able to triage bugs, in collaboration with core developers.
> - liaise effectively with previous release managers.
> - have a working knowledge of Git, including branching and merging.
>
> ... as these skills reflect the key responsibilities you will take on
> as a release manager.
>
> Ideally, at least one of the candidates for the rookie RM role should
> have some experience with php-src as the ability to assess more
> technical PR's will come in handy. Other candidates do not necessarily
> need to have deep knowledge of internals but should understand the
> above-mentioned points.
>
> You should be confident that you can volunteer a couple of hours on
> one Tuesday and Thursday every other month over the coming years.
> Additionally, extra time will be required in the month leading up to
> the .0 release as the alpha/beta/RC phases are more frequent and more
> decisions have to be made there.
>
>
> Please put your name forward here if you wish to be considered a candidate.
> An initial "TODO" page exists on the wiki and contains provisional
> dates for GA and pre-releases [2].
>
> You can apply until the 30th of March. Voting will start on the 31st of
> March.
>
>
> If you have any questions on the process, check out the post from my
> co-RM Daniel [3] that goes into more detail. Also, feel free to reach
> out to me, or Daniel, if you have further questions.
>
> [1] https://github.com/php/php-src/blob/master/docs/release-process.md
> [2] https://wiki.php.net/todo/php86
> [3] https://scherzer.dev/Blog/20260218-release-manager-notes
>
> PHP is a community-driven project, and your help would be greatly
> appreciated.
>
> Your 8.5 RMs,
> Volker, Daniel, and Pierrick

---

## #130242 — Jordi Kroon — 2026-03-03T16:38:33+00:00

URL: https://externals.io/message/130240#130242 · In reply to: #130240

Hi Internals,

I would like to be a candidate for the rookie 8.6 Release Manager position.

I have been following the php repositories (docs, src) for a while now and have done a few contributions both on the repo as well as on the mailing list.

I have experience with git and managing projects but I also have a lot to learn. This position will help me get better in these skills with guidance of the veteran Release Managers.

Feel free to ask me any questions.

Kind regards,
Jordi Kroon

> Hey folks,
>
> Every year in March we start the process of finding candidates who
> want to volunteer as Release Managers (RMs) for the next PHP release.
>
> We are looking for two new (rookie) RMs and one veteran RM.
>
> Should you be elected, you will be guided and helped by the current,
> as well as previous RMs and the documentation in release-process.md
> [1].
>
> To perform the tasks outlined in [1], candidates should:
> - be confident contributing to and working with the PHP internals mailing list.
> - understand PHP's backward compatibility guarantees - including where
> they do not apply.
> - be able to triage bugs, in collaboration with core developers.
> - liaise effectively with previous release managers.
> - have a working knowledge of Git, including branching and merging.
>
> ... as these skills reflect the key responsibilities you will take on
> as a release manager.
>
> Ideally, at least one of the candidates for the rookie RM role should
> have some experience with php-src as the ability to assess more
> technical PR's will come in handy. Other candidates do not necessarily
> need to have deep knowledge of internals but should understand the
> above-mentioned points.
>
> You should be confident that you can volunteer a couple of hours on
> one Tuesday and Thursday every other month over the coming years.
> Additionally, extra time will be required in the month leading up to
> the .0 release as the alpha/beta/RC phases are more frequent and more
> decisions have to be made there.
>
>
> Please put your name forward here if you wish to be considered a candidate.
> An initial "TODO" page exists on the wiki and contains provisional
> dates for GA and pre-releases [2].
>
> You can apply until the 30th of March. Voting will start on the 31st of March.
>
>
> If you have any questions on the process, check out the post from my
> co-RM Daniel [3] that goes into more detail. Also, feel free to reach
> out to me, or Daniel, if you have further questions.
>
> [1] https://github.com/php/php-src/blob/master/docs/release-process.md
> [2] https://wiki.php.net/todo/php86
> [3] https://scherzer.dev/Blog/20260218-release-manager-notes
>
> PHP is a community-driven project, and your help would be greatly appreciated.
>
> Your 8.5 RMs,
> Volker, Daniel, and Pierrick

---

## #130244 — Paul Dragoonis — 2026-03-03T17:30:45+00:00

URL: https://externals.io/message/130240#130244 · In reply to: #130242

> Hi Internals,
>
> I would like to be a candidate for the rookie 8.6 Release Manager position.
>
> I have been following the php repositories (docs, src) for a while now and
> have done a few contributions both on the repo as well as on the mailing
> list.
>
> I have experience with git and managing projects but I also have a lot to
> learn. This position will help me get better in these skills with guidance
> of the veteran Release Managers.
>
> Feel free to ask me any questions.
>
> Kind regards,
> Jordi Kroon
> 
>
> Hey folks,
>
> Every year in March we start the process of finding candidates who
> want to volunteer as Release Managers (RMs) for the next PHP release.
>
> We are looking for two new (rookie) RMs and one veteran RM.
>
> Should you be elected, you will be guided and helped by the current,
> as well as previous RMs and the documentation in release-process.md
> [1].
>
> To perform the tasks outlined in [1], candidates should:
> - be confident contributing to and working with the PHP internals mailing
> list.
> - understand PHP's backward compatibility guarantees - including where
> they do not apply.
> - be able to triage bugs, in collaboration with core developers.
> - liaise effectively with previous release managers.
> - have a working knowledge of Git, including branching and merging.
>
> ... as these skills reflect the key responsibilities you will take on
> as a release manager.
>
> Ideally, at least one of the candidates for the rookie RM role should
> have some experience with php-src as the ability to assess more
> technical PR's will come in handy. Other candidates do not necessarily
> need to have deep knowledge of internals but should understand the
> above-mentioned points.
>
> You should be confident that you can volunteer a couple of hours on
> one Tuesday and Thursday every other month over the coming years.
> Additionally, extra time will be required in the month leading up to
> the .0 release as the alpha/beta/RC phases are more frequent and more
> decisions have to be made there.
>
>
> Please put your name forward here if you wish to be considered a candidate.
> An initial "TODO" page exists on the wiki and contains provisional
> dates for GA and pre-releases [2].
>
> You can apply until the 30th of March. Voting will start on the 31st of
> March.
>
>
> If you have any questions on the process, check out the post from my
> co-RM Daniel [3] that goes into more detail. Also, feel free to reach
> out to me, or Daniel, if you have further questions.
>
> [1] https://github.com/php/php-src/blob/master/docs/release-process.md
> [2] https://wiki.php.net/todo/php86
> [3] https://scherzer.dev/Blog/20260218-release-manager-notes
>
>

Hi Volker,

I'm happy to give my time and experience towards helping with the release
management workload for PHP 8.6

I have strong experience in all the aforementioned topics, and decent
php-src experience too, for more hands-on help where needed.

Many thanks,
Paul




>
>
> PHP is a community-driven project, and your help would be greatly
> appreciated.
>
> Your 8.5 RMs,
> Volker, Daniel, and Pierrick

---

## #130245 — Daniel Scherzer — 2026-03-03T17:37:36+00:00

URL: https://externals.io/message/130240#130245 · In reply to: #130240

Hi internals,

I've enjoyed working as an 8.5 RM, and so am volunteering to serve as the
veteran RM for 8.6.

-Daniel



> Hey folks,
>
> Every year in March we start the process of finding candidates who
> want to volunteer as Release Managers (RMs) for the next PHP release.
>
> We are looking for two new (rookie) RMs and one veteran RM.
>
> Should you be elected, you will be guided and helped by the current,
> as well as previous RMs and the documentation in release-process.md
> [1].
>
> To perform the tasks outlined in [1], candidates should:
> - be confident contributing to and working with the PHP internals mailing
> list.
> - understand PHP's backward compatibility guarantees - including where
> they do not apply.
> - be able to triage bugs, in collaboration with core developers.
> - liaise effectively with previous release managers.
> - have a working knowledge of Git, including branching and merging.
>
> ... as these skills reflect the key responsibilities you will take on
> as a release manager.
>
> Ideally, at least one of the candidates for the rookie RM role should
> have some experience with php-src as the ability to assess more
> technical PR's will come in handy. Other candidates do not necessarily
> need to have deep knowledge of internals but should understand the
> above-mentioned points.
>
> You should be confident that you can volunteer a couple of hours on
> one Tuesday and Thursday every other month over the coming years.
> Additionally, extra time will be required in the month leading up to
> the .0 release as the alpha/beta/RC phases are more frequent and more
> decisions have to be made there.
>
>
> Please put your name forward here if you wish to be considered a candidate.
> An initial "TODO" page exists on the wiki and contains provisional
> dates for GA and pre-releases [2].
>
> You can apply until the 30th of March. Voting will start on the 31st of
> March.
>
>
> If you have any questions on the process, check out the post from my
> co-RM Daniel [3] that goes into more detail. Also, feel free to reach
> out to me, or Daniel, if you have further questions.
>
> [1] https://github.com/php/php-src/blob/master/docs/release-process.md
> [2] https://wiki.php.net/todo/php86
> [3] https://scherzer.dev/Blog/20260218-release-manager-notes
>
> PHP is a community-driven project, and your help would be greatly
> appreciated.
>
> Your 8.5 RMs,
> Volker, Daniel, and Pierrick

---

## #130248 — Matteo Beccati — 2026-03-04T11:49:45+00:00

URL: https://externals.io/message/130240#130248 · In reply to: #130240

Hi Volker,

Il 03/03/2026 16:38, Volker Dusch ha scritto:
> Please put your name forward here if you wish to be considered a candidate.
> An initial "TODO" page exists on the wiki and contains provisional
> dates for GA and pre-releases [2].
> 
> You can apply until the 30th of March. Voting will start on the 31st of March.

I'd also like to put my name forward for the 8.6 RM election.

I'm familiar with PHP internals, but not much with the ZE/JIT inner 
workings.

I've been granted commit rights since the PHP 5.3 era, and my work has 
focused mainly on pdo/pdo_pgsql. Over the years I've successfully led a 
couple of RFCs, the most recent being the driver‑specific SQL parsers 
for PDO in PHP 8.4.

I recently turned 50, which means I can now officially say I've been 
contributing to open source for 25 years. Since 20+ years I've also been 
organising phpday and other tech conferences in Italy.

For several years I've been running a custom CI pipeline that builds PHP 
nightly and tests a selection of popular projects, helping identify 
segfaults or potential BC breaks early so they can be fixed or reported 
upstream.

Good luck to all fellow candidates!


Cheers
-- 
Matteo Beccati
https://beccati.com

---

## #130394 — Volker Dusch — 2026-03-18T14:46:23+00:00

URL: https://externals.io/message/130240#130394 · In reply to: #130240

>
> You can apply until the 30th of March. Voting will start on the 31st of March.
>

Roughly half the time to the application deadline passed, so I wanted
to thank the 5 people who have already applied and encourage/remind
others to do so as well if anyone else is interested.

Kind regards,
Volker

---

## #130400 — Sara Golemon — 2026-03-19T23:07:06+00:00

URL: https://externals.io/message/130240#130400 · In reply to: #130240

> 
> 
> We are looking for two new (rookie) RMs and one veteran RM.
> 

Golly, been a minute since 8.0...
I volunteer as tribute.

-Sara

---

## #130401 — Volker Dusch — 2026-03-20T07:05:23+00:00

URL: https://externals.io/message/130240#130401 · In reply to: #130400

> Golly, been a minute since 8.0...
> I volunteer as tribute.
>
> -Sara


I assume you are volunteering for the veteran RM role?

Kind Regards,
Volker

---

## #130402 — Jakub Zelenka — 2026-03-20T09:52:01+00:00

URL: https://externals.io/message/130240#130402 · In reply to: #130401

> 
>
> > […]
>
>
> I assume you are volunteering for the veteran RM role?
>
>
I just noted this internally that this shouldn't be requirement for the
previous RM's to be able to do just veteran. The veteran RM is not really a
RM because they rarely do any release so I don't think we should prevent
previous RM's to volunteer again for the regular RM. We should also remove
the "new / rookie" from the name in the announcement as it's confusing and
suggest otherwise which doesn't make much sense to me.

Kind regards

Jakub

---

## #130403 — Volker Dusch — 2026-03-20T12:22:43+00:00

URL: https://externals.io/message/130240#130403 · In reply to: #130402

>
> I just noted this internally that this shouldn't be requirement for the
> previous RM's to be able to do just veteran.
>

I asked Sara a clarifying question to know where to place her for the
voting(s) we'll be having, as she qualifies for both roles.

For the rest: I'd prefer to have discussions around policy changes and
changing established wording be in a different thread and not in the
application thread

---

## #130404 — aggelos bellos — 2026-03-20T12:44:49+00:00

URL: https://externals.io/message/130240#130404 · In reply to: #130403

Hi internals,

I would like to also volunteer as a rookie RM. I am using PHP for several
years now but I haven't contribute to the language itself. I tried once but
I must have broke too many processes.

However, I have contributed to several PHP open-source projects ( PHPStan,
PHPFlow, Pie ) and to some non-PHP related things like OpenAPI.

I hope my experience will be useful.



> 
>
> > […]
>
> I asked Sara a clarifying question to know where to place her for the
> voting(s) we'll be having, as she qualifies for both roles.
>
> For the rest: I'd prefer to have discussions around policy changes and
> changing established wording be in a different thread and not in the
> application thread

---

## #130422 — Sara Golemon — 2026-03-24T00:20:47+00:00

URL: https://externals.io/message/130240#130422 · In reply to: #130401

> 
> 
> I assume you are volunteering for the veteran RM role? 
> 

Whichever is needed.  If we have plenty aiming for hands-on, I'm cool keeping hands-off.  If we have plenty of hands-off, I can go hands-on.  And if we have plenty of both, I'll sign up for a dance class instead.

Just seemed like a good time to volunteer...

-Sara

---

## #130523 — Sara Golemon — 2026-03-31T16:44:53+00:00

URL: https://externals.io/message/130240#130523 · In reply to: #130422

After talking with Volker, and seeing the supply of both hands-off and
hands-on candidates, I'll just bow out from 8.6 and leave you kids to it.
Keeps the hands-off role easy (nothing to vote on) and lets us focus on the
hands-on set.

-Sara

---

## #130525 — Volker Dusch — 2026-03-31T17:25:26+00:00

URL: https://externals.io/message/130240#130525 · In reply to: #130240

Hi everyone,

With Sara's mail and a last minute application from Patrick coming in,
I'm hereby closing the application period.

The voting thread will be started soon.

Thank you to everyone who applied!

Kind regards,
Volker


>
> Hey folks,
>
> Every year in March we start the process of finding candidates who
> want to volunteer as Release Managers (RMs) for the next PHP release.
>
> We are looking for two new (rookie) RMs and one veteran RM.
>
> Should you be elected, you will be guided and helped by the current,
> as well as previous RMs and the documentation in release-process.md
> [1].
>
> To perform the tasks outlined in [1], candidates should:
> - be confident contributing to and working with the PHP internals mailing list.
> - understand PHP's backward compatibility guarantees - including where
> they do not apply.
> - be able to triage bugs, in collaboration with core developers.
> - liaise effectively with previous release managers.
> - have a working knowledge of Git, including branching and merging.
>
> ... as these skills reflect the key responsibilities you will take on
> as a release manager.
>
> Ideally, at least one of the candidates for the rookie RM role should
> have some experience with php-src as the ability to assess more
> technical PR's will come in handy. Other candidates do not necessarily
> need to have deep knowledge of internals but should understand the
> above-mentioned points.
>
> You should be confident that you can volunteer a couple of hours on
> one Tuesday and Thursday every other month over the coming years.
> Additionally, extra time will be required in the month leading up to
> the .0 release as the alpha/beta/RC phases are more frequent and more
> decisions have to be made there.
>
>
> Please put your name forward here if you wish to be considered a candidate.
> An initial "TODO" page exists on the wiki and contains provisional
> dates for GA and pre-releases [2].
>
> You can apply until the 30th of March. Voting will start on the 31st of March.
>
>
> If you have any questions on the process, check out the post from my
> co-RM Daniel [3] that goes into more detail. Also, feel free to reach
> out to me, or Daniel, if you have further questions.
>
> [1] https://github.com/php/php-src/blob/master/docs/release-process.md
> [2] https://wiki.php.net/todo/php86
> [3] https://scherzer.dev/Blog/20260218-release-manager-notes
>
> PHP is a community-driven project, and your help would be greatly appreciated.
>
> Your 8.5 RMs,
> Volker, Daniel, and Pierrick