[wplug-internet] What would it take to get PHP 5.3 on the server?

[Vance Kochenderfer]

On Sat, Mar 30, 2013 at 12:03:54PM -0600, Vance Kochenderfer wrote:
> I'd have to check if there's any conflict between MediaWiki and
> PHP 5.3.  I would think it'd probably work just fine but need to
> be sure.

Sigh.  It looks like no actual *features* that MediaWiki depends
on were removed in PHP 5.3.  However, in that version, the word
"namespace" was made into a reserved word.  Our current version of
MediaWiki uses "namespace" as an identifier all over the place as
a class name and variable name.  Of course I didn't discover this
until after I installed the PHP 5.3 packages.

I've restored the software and configuration to its prior state (I
hope) and the wiki is now working again.  Let me know if you
notice any breakage.

Later on I'm going to try upgrading to a newer MediaWiki which has
fixed the problem of identifiers which conflict with the reserved
word.  Then I should be able to upgrade to the php53 packages with
minimal effort.  But this is a project that I may not be able to
finish this weekend.  Sorry.

Vance Kochenderfer        |  "Get me out of these ropes and into a
vkochend at nyx.net          |   good belt of Scotch"    -Nick Danger