[ANNOUNCEMENT] PEAR-1.4.0a4 (alpha) Released.

The new PEAR package PEAR-1.4.0a4 (alpha) has been released at http://pear.php.net/. Release notes ------------- This is a major milestone release for PEAR. In addition to several killer features, every single element of PEAR has a regression test, and so stability is much higher than any previous PEAR release, even with the alpha label. New features in a nutshell: * full support for channels * pre-download dependency validation * new package.xml 2.0 format allows tremendous flexibility while maintaining BC * support for optional dependency groups and limited support for sub-packaging * robust dependency support * full dependency validation on uninstall * support for binary PECL packages * remote install for hosts with only ftp access - no more problems with restricted host installation * full support for mirroring * support for bundling several packages into a single tarball * support for static dependencies on a url-based package Specific changes from 1.3.5: * Implement request #1789: SSL support for xml-rpc and download * Everything above here that you just read Specific changes from 1.4.0a1: * Fix Bug #3610: fix for PDO package in 1.3.5 was never merged to 1.4.0a1 * Fix Bug #3612: fatal error in PEAR_Downloader_Package * Use 1.2.0 as recommended version of XML_RPC Specific changes from 1.4.0a2: BC BREAK FOR PECL DEVS ONLY: In order to circumvent strict package-validation, use "pear channel-update pecl.php.net" prior to packaging a pecl release. * Fix package.xml version 2.0 generation from package.xml 1.0 * Fix Bug #3634: still too many pear-specific restrictions on package valid * Implement Request #3647: "pear package" only includes one package.xml * Fix Bug #3677: Post-Install script message needs to display channel name Specific changes from 1.4.0a3: * upgrade suggested XML_RPC version to 1.2.1 Package Info ------------- The PEAR package contains: * the PEAR installer, for creating, distributing and installing packages * the alpha-quality PEAR_Exception PHP5 error handling mechanism * the beta-quality PEAR_ErrorStack advanced error handling mechanism * the PEAR_Error error handling mechanism * the OS_Guess class for retrieving info about the OS where PHP is running on * the System class for quick handling of common operations with files and directories * the PEAR base class Related Links ------------- Package home: http://pear.php.net/package/PEAR Changelog: http://pear.php.net/package/PEAR/download/1.4.0a4 Download: http://pear.php.net/get/PEAR-1.4.0a4.tgz Authors ------------- Stig Bakken <stig@php.net> (lead) Thomas V.V.Cox <cox@idecnet.com> (lead) Martin Jansen <mj@php.net> (developer) Pierre-Alain Joye (lead) Greg Beaver (lead)