Re: [PHP-DEV] [RFC] Drop support for 32bit builds

[Marc Bennewitz]

On 21.07.25 00:05, Hanz wrote:

Hello, my two cents,

On Thu, Jun 19, 2025 at 9:09 PM Marc Bennewitz <marc@mabe.berlin> wrote:

    Hi,

    During the discussion about the year 2038 issue it turned out that
    maybe
    it's time to drop support for 32-bit of PHP completely.

    Based on that I have created an RFC to deprecate 32-bit build in
    8.next
    and drop support for it in 9.

    RFC: https://wiki.php.net/rfc/drop_32bit_support

I'd hate to see PHP cut itself out of 32bit, especially with workloads getting device specific "on the edge", and heavy loads moving in to different components; the lightness of 32 IMHO will be an asset.  I think too it'd put a burden on the tiny-container approach.  Way back, we were excited <https://news-web.php.net/php.internals/12974> but most of it was Apache.

I guess it'd be a drag to maintain two branches but maybe an option.  To be honest, the only processes I see over 4gb, even these days, are browsers. :)

I just send out an update, that - for now - I'll not continue on that RFC.

Actually not because of "especially with workloads getting device specific 'on the edge'" because this is a niche case a vote should decide if it's worth it. I'm not sure what you mean with "tiny-container approach" and the old ML thread of supporting 64-bit builds but I hope I clarified this part already in my previous mail.

Best,
Hans

Regards,
Marc

OpenPGP_0x3936ABF753BC88CE.asc
Description: OpenPGP public key

OpenPGP_signature.asc
Description: OpenPGP digital signature