Splitting the subject: the PECL/PHP relationship

Hi all, Just so's Marcus and I don't have to keep cross-posting here... The problems of PECL vs core extensions are many, and exist with or without the PDO/CLA debate. Marcus (among others) says he wants to get as many extensions as possible out of the core and into PECL. I agree fully with this as a long-term aim, but feel strongly that the PECL infrastructure is not equipped to support it well at present. 1) Distribution woes need to end. With the work Greg's been doing lately on PHP_Archive/Phar, that's very close to being attainable now in the physical 'getting PECL'd extensions out to people' sense, but unless people are running CLI or CGI or have access to their own php.ini they still can't do much with those extensions. So we have to seriously consider how to recommend extensions to hosts, other than by shipping them with the PHP core. 2) Maintenance status needs to be part of the equation. 3) Stability needs to be part of the equation. 4) Appropriateness to a given PHP branch needs to be part of the equation. 5) CS and documentation need to be part of the equation. Thoughts? - Steph