What is the Future of phpBB?

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rubencm
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Re: What is the Future of phpBB?

Post by rubencm »

david63 wrote: Wed Sep 07, 2022 6:59 am
rubencm wrote: Tue Sep 06, 2022 11:24 pm Currently, the only relevant new features in master are the user mentions and the storage.
And what about updating from the ACP and installing extensions from a catalogue - not to mention upgraded versions of Symfony and Twig (albeit not to the latest versions)
phpbb is made to work in most possible places, especially in hostings, this means that it must be made to run in as much versions of php as possible (including the current ones).
Currently, in the 3.3 branch (symfony 3), all php versions from 7.1 are supported
If it is upgraded to 4.0 (symfony 5), it would be possible to update the forums only in servers with 7.3+.
And if we update to symfony 6, it will be only supported in servers with php 8.1+. I am sure that most people wouldn't be able to update to the last version.
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Re: What is the Future of phpBB?

Post by david63 »

rubencm wrote: Wed Sep 07, 2022 10:55 pm If it is upgraded to 4.0 (symfony 5), it would be possible to update the forums only in servers with 7.3+.
PHP 7.3 ceased being supported at the end of 2021
rubencm wrote: Wed Sep 07, 2022 10:55 pm And if we update to symfony 6, it will be only supported in servers with php 8.1+
PHP 8.1 will be the only currently supported version by the end of this year so those arguments are invalid as phpBB should also not be supporting outdated PHP versions.
rubencm wrote: Wed Sep 07, 2022 10:55 pm phpbb is made to work in most possible places, especially in hostings, this means that it must be made to run in as much versions of php as possible (including the current ones).
I think you will find that the majority of hosts are now updating/upgrading their servers to the latest PHP versions and if a host does not update then the user has a choice - stay on a compatible, but unsupported, phpBB version or move to another host. It is not phpBB's responsibility to cater for inefficient hosts.

Anyway none of that is an issue as at the current rate of progress PHP10 (as a minimum) will be the lowest supported version.
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Re: What is the Future of phpBB?

Post by GanstaZ »

Yep.. I agree with David! He covered it all.

Only thing i want to add is, even with release of phpBB 4, 3.3.x will still be supported.
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Re: What is the Future of phpBB?

Post by [Dimetrodon] »

There's always going to be those whom for whatever reason are not able to upgrade to the latest version. That's never been a stop for code changes and higher system or software requirements.
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Re: What is the Future of phpBB?

Post by tvm »

I replied to David's extension for SEO earlier but wanted to follow up here as well. phpBB are scaring people away, I mean, when I first began i was 16 and was on phpBB1 and was able to submit mods with just simple find line nunber and replace or add, it was simple back then. And while php has developed, it still supports native and original code, but that will never be accepted by phpBB. I heard the reason for the slow development was simply because of the age avg (up in the high numbers) that wanted it their way or the highway.

For phpBB to continue we need to make forks I believe, that is the only viable option if they wont let younger people in, the people who started it learned php4/5 while the young guns starts learning the newest first, let these guys in, let them help, let phpBB live and not die slowly as it is doing now. Just by looking at extensions not supporting 3.3 you can see the graveyard ready for putting phpBB into the ground.

Long live forks, to me it sounds like Davidand let native phpBB still be possible, this is a forum people decide to add to their site themselves, and you say in your own "T&C" that the phpBB-organization has no obligations or anything, so why cant people continue to make tweaks themselves? While it's not really hard pushing the html through the php files i dont really see the point, and one can easily just ajax input any script anywhere, so what is actually the point of all this nonsense "OUR WAY IS THE ONLY WAY"? Want your legacy to still be here? Let the young guns play with what they got.

I am only 38 but, and like most people here with ADD or similar I am sure they are eager to join the team if they are let through the door.
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Re: What is the Future of phpBB?

Post by Mick »

Nobodies saying you can’t make tweaks, you can do as you wish the same as always but phpBB releases have to suit the majority. I’d be interested to know where you found the information that ‘youngsters’ have been turned away because of their age.
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Re: What is the Future of phpBB?

Post by Lumpy Burgertushie »

from the beginning phpBB was open source. that means that anyone can make any changes they want to it.
however, the staff has to draw the line at officially supporting the software if there are things they did not create in it.

therefore, MODs and now extensions. anyone can create an extension but in order for it to be available here it must be done
with valid, secure code as defined by the phpBB terms etc.
that does not mean that you can not do whatever you want with your board. It does not mean that you won't get support for your code/extensions.
that is what this support board is for. You can get support from your peers here.

And where you get the idea that phpBB is dying I don't know.

as far as I know it is still the number one used free bulletin board software on the planet.

and maybe even paid.

luck,
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Re: What is the Future of phpBB?

Post by thecoalman »

tvm wrote: Tue Sep 27, 2022 11:34 am that is the only viable option if they wont let younger people in,

....I am only 38
Relatively speaking you are an old man compared to most of the development team. They don't all list their ages but most are early 30's.
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Re: What is the Future of phpBB?

Post by warmweer »

tvm wrote: Tue Sep 27, 2022 11:34 am ... that is the only viable option if they wont let younger people in ...
"younger" refers to age and has nothing to do with it: the criterium is proven maturity (in terms of coding).

As to the forks you mentioned .. how any of those have survived?
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On the other hand, it is not open source, which means you cannot change it or publish it in a modified form.


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Re: What is the Future of phpBB?

Post by [Dimetrodon] »

warmweer wrote: Tue Sep 27, 2022 4:36 pmAs to the forks you mentioned .. how any of those have survived?
Forks are neat but I can only think of two. phpBBex which is a fork of phpBB 3.0 with a small number of features added and can run on php 8, and icyphoenix, which is a bizarre hybrid of new code, phpBB2, and phpBB3.
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Re: What is the Future of phpBB?

Post by tvm »

Lumpy Burgertushie wrote: Tue Sep 27, 2022 3:04 pm from the beginning phpBB was open source. that means that anyone can make any changes they want to it.
however, the staff has to draw the line at officially supporting the software if there are things they did not create in it.

therefore, MODs and now extensions. anyone can create an extension but in order for it to be available here it must be done
with valid, secure code as defined by the phpBB terms etc.
that does not mean that you can not do whatever you want with your board. It does not mean that you won't get support for your code/extensions.
that is what this support board is for. You can get support from your peers here.

And where you get the idea that phpBB is dying I don't know.

as far as I know it is still the number one used free bulletin board software on the planet.

and maybe even paid.

luck,
robert
Well, as others has mentioned here it takes 2-3 months for an extension to be certified, and when doing work for free to make phpBB better this is like begging for people not to join the gang. I have my sources in regards to the dev team, so please spare me the bs about the fact that most of you are up in the late 50 (early 60's).

I am still wondering why none of you are answering about the sudden drop of support for php when you can inject it with ajax instead in the template.

As far as free goes, maybe, maybe not. But for paid, no way. I can barely search up phpBB3.3 help on google these days, wake up, see the reality. As far as forks goes, they only work if they are supported by you by linking to them, so release it on github and see maybe we'll get someone to do more work when its semi supported by you.

phpBB is far away from what it used to be, and like I said the extension site confirms this with the lack of 3.3 support for almost every mod that can do something fancy, yes alot of 3.2 extensions works too, but they are all old, not updated in years most of them. If that doesnt tell you the interest is lacking, i'm not sure who can.

I am still with you, i just think you need another approach to get people into the dev-team by letting them proove their worth. Or go another way as taking advice, in my defence, i didnt even start this thread, so I guess im not the only one thinking something has to change.

Br,
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Re: What is the Future of phpBB?

Post by Kailey »

tvm wrote: Tue Sep 27, 2022 5:12 pm I have my sources in regards to the dev team, so please spare me the bs about the fact that most of you are up in the late 50 (early 60's).
Not part of the Development Team, but I'm 38! :D

In all fairness though, the drop in activity on the Support forums for me says that phpBB is more stable and secure than years past. As far as extension validation time is concerned, accourding to the Queue Statistics, the average time for validations is 42 days. Also, most extensions work fine on phpBB 3.3.x. Additionally, anyone is welcome to submit pull requests for phpBB. You can find more about this process on our Get Involved page.
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Re: What is the Future of phpBB?

Post by warmweer »

tvm wrote: Tue Sep 27, 2022 5:12 pm ...
I can barely search up phpBB3.3 help on google these days, wake up, see the reality.
...
A possible conclusion from this statement is that your search terms aren't up to par.
Spelling is freeware, which means you can use it for free.
On the other hand, it is not open source, which means you cannot change it or publish it in a modified form.


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Re: What is the Future of phpBB?

Post by david63 »

Kailey wrote: Tue Sep 27, 2022 6:16 pm the average time for validations is 42 days
With at least one extension rapidly approaching 100 days!
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Re: What is the Future of phpBB?

Post by stevemaury »

Kailey wrote: Tue Sep 27, 2022 6:16 pm

Not part of the Development Team, but I'm 38! :D
Not part of the development team, but I change their diapers. :lol: I'm 77. Soon, they will change mine.
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