PHP RFC: Policy release process update

• Version: 0.2
• Date: 2025-05-09
• Author: Jakub Zelenka, bukka@php.net
• Status: Under Discussion

This is a policy RFC that tries to match the current policy with the process that we currently have and also clarify few details.

The policy change is composed of following items

• Adding Requirements Notation section to the README.rst to properly define usage of key words as defined in RFC 2119
• Definition of backward compatibility (BC) and noting few cases that are not considered a BC break
• Clarifying that an RFC can allow a backward compatibility (BC) break in a minor version — this already occurs in practice
• Introducing a special exception for breaking ABI in a patch release in the case of a HIGH severity security issue.
• Allowing build compatibility fixes in security releases.
• Allowing regression fixes in exceptional cases during the fourth year of support.
• Improving feature selection wording.
• Explicitly allowing features to be merged without an RFC if there are no objections or RFC requests from core developers. This does not apply to user-facing engine changes (including syntax changes).

Yes / No vote requiring 2/3 Yes votes to pass.

• https://github.com/php/policies/pull/19

Links to external references, discussions or RFCs

Keep this updated with features that were discussed on the mail lists.