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I think there are some parts to a GNU/Linux distribution's LTS that should be updated & upgrade faster than the overall system.
For instance, there are probably still some distros where "python" points to python 2.7.x instead of python 3.x.y. I'm sure that all current distros do have some python 3.x.y version (even if it is years old) available as "python3xy"
When I ran CentOS (pre CentOS Stream), I had to use a non-default repository in order to get php 5.6 (the then-current version). These days, there should be a "phpX.Y.Z" version available under that name. Probably by now that should be "php8.0.2" or "php8.0.3", to prepare for November's end of mainstream support for PHP 7.4.
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I do realize that Debian and Red Hat backport security fixes to their current LTS version. But using an old and unsupported version with security patches still means that things like WordPress may not be able to use the latest PHP security enhancements because too many end users are still using geriatric software versions.
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@geniusmusing At one point, I was running these sites on a VPS running CentOS. In order to get a currently supported version of PHP (v.5.6 at the time), I had to find a 3rd party repo. The repo, for some reason, did not have a version of php-intl that worked, so every time there was an update, I had to use PEAR to download and compile it.
(By the way, I don’t know if PHP has integrated that extension into the main executable yet, but if they haven’t, they should.)
Anyway, I just visited https://www.php.net/supported-version.php and https://www.php.net/eol.php … I see that v.7.3.x is already unsupported except for security patches; v7.4 loses support in late November (security patches for another year afterward).
Distros and projects should be moving to v.8.0.x, which is supported for another 18 months (with another year of security patches after that). I’m assuming that there are some breaking changes between the 7.x.y versions and the 8.x.y versions, so I can understand some grumbling from developers.
However, the truth is that #PHP, like its ancestor #Perl, just evolved organically without any planning and now needs to clean up 🧽 🧹 inconsistencies and continue to tighten security. Hopefully, the pace of change will slow once those two things are accomplished.