Re: Proposal of removing PHP4 references from the manual

Firstly, thank you for this summary, it seems to cover all discussed problems. Probably it is a great starting point to make final decision. I'll focus on answering questions you asked.

* Should we remove PHP 4-only functions/extensions?

     - I think so

Definitely yes. We already removed some extensions, we are going to provide "snapshot" or whatever we call it, so it is a step to make work done completely.

* What should the minimum PHP version be? 5.2.0?

     - Yes, 5.2.0 seems fine

I agree. Similarly, current manual assumes 4.1 as earliest documented version, not 4.0.0. Source: http://php.net/manual/en/about.phpversions.php

* What does the "minimum PHP version" mean?

     * If 5.2.0, do we remove functions only in 5.1 and below?
       - No
     * Or does it simply mean how we write and structure documentation?
       - Yes, but this requires more explanation

Lion's share of further discussion is probably hidden here. Does it mean that changelogs entries for PHP 5.0.0 are going to be removed? Do we want to remove 4.x changelog entries at all?

* Remove "PHP 4" from versions.xml?

     - I’m on the fence, but lean towards removing the PHP 4 references
       here as long as the add date is inserted into the respective
       changelog sections

I have no personal problem with "PHP 4" staying in versions.xml, they are fine. They just redundant when whole rest of the manual describes versions starting from PHP 5.x/5.2

* The current structure/layout was created with PHP 3 in mind,

     with minor updates along the way. This might explain why the
     appendix has grown out of control, why advanced features can
     be hidden (not kept in mind when writing related docs), and
     so on. Rethink our structure? Also, too much PECL clutter?
     - One day yes, not right now ;)

I think we shouldn't mix this two things. In fact, every structure change is another blow to the translators and it has to be well thought out.

Unfortunately, this task was started but never completed. Many people tackled it differently (some created PHP 4 changelog entries, some simply deleted PHP 4 references along the way, and so on), we won't have a perfect solution. A true "snapshot" option is not possible. Any glaring holes in the above summary? There must be one or three. :)

Probably there are some, I'm not really objective in this discussion :) so I will wait for more responses.

Regards, Philip

Greetings, Maciej. PS: Sorry for the language mistakes, I started writing this reply on 6AM and currently try not to fall asleep.