Should cPanel Add Full Support for PHP5/SOAP/mysqli/MySQL 4.1.x (even if Beta)?

[jfxberns]

OK, cPanel allows you to *TEST* PHP 5.0.x, but there are no options to configure SOAP or to upgrade to MySQL 4.1.X or configure the mysqli interface.

I pay my ISP a monthly fee to use cPanel because I want easy systems admnistration. I don't want to have to manually install MySQL4.1.x and recompile PHP5 to get the system I want.

Who else wants cPanel to put MySQL 4.1.x, SOAP and mysqli in as beta options for the web server config?

 

[__DoPe_ShOw__]

The reason that they do not provide the installs or upgrades or whutever is because when its in Beta, its very buggy and can cause problems with your system. It could even cause the server to crash. Therefor making it not available is covering their asses because if they let you install something that'll mess up your machine and you install it, they could be held responsible. Well I doubt that but still. It isn't for production use. Wait for it to become ready for production THEN install it. Till then, use the stable releases.

 

[jfxberns]

No, MySQL 4.1.7 and PHP 5.0.2 are NOT beta releases. They are full stable releases. .

I have them running in a production environment and they are running just fine. It has not broken anything on my server, at all....

What I am suggesting is that the release of them to cPanel users be LABELED as a beta (experiemental?) release on cPanel - with an "install at your own risk" warning so cPanel does NOT have to take the heat if the server is unstable.

Having a click-on option, FULLY DISCOLSED AS BETA / EXPERIMENTAL, beats the hell out of MANY DIFFERENT people that NEED this functionality being forced to manually compile and install the software.

Having MANY people (often of dubious skill levels) forced into doing manual installs will cause far more problems than having ONE "approved" (an hopefully, at least minimally QA'ed) method of installing that configuration.

If cPanel provided ONE method, they would know exactly what occurred and be ablel to provide a method or suggestions on how to roll it back if there was a failure.

Furthermore, it would be a way for them to learn, in advance, about issues that will eventually arise when they DO decide to move forward with the new versions.

 

[rs-freddo]

Interesting - only a "yes" or "don't care"option. If you want to do a poll and have people take you seriously then you need to be objective. Since there is no "no" option the poll is flawed and a waste of time.

 

[jfxberns]

Interesting - only a "yes" or "don't care"option. If you want to do a poll and have people take you seriously then you need to be objective. Since there is no "no" option the poll is flawed and a waste of time.

Oops. Sorry. I guess I should have hired the Gallup Organization to carefully craft a meaningful survey.

It's simple: either you care about having the feature included or you don't. Or, if you have too much time on your hands, you can whine about the poll not being scientific.

 

[eth00]

Fredo has a very valid point though...I don't not care about it I do not think it should be done. Since it is still beta the products may change before they are finally released. I would rather cPanel spend devopment time someplace else!

If you really want to test them out you could always install them yourself.

 

[jfxberns]

One more time: THEY ARE NOT BETA PRODUCTS! PHP5.0 and MySQL 4.1.7 are BOTH PRODUCTION RELEASES! So that argument is a moot point!

 

[gorilla]

One more time: THEY ARE NOT BETA PRODUCTS! PHP5.0 and MySQL 4.1.7 are BOTH PRODUCTION RELEASES! So that argument is a moot point!

I agree with you all the way :D

 

[krisdv]

Maybe we should refrase it for you

cPanel is not fully tested with these 'PRODUCTION RELEASES' and is therefore in beta with regards to these products.

 

[FWC]

I agree with you all the way :D

You do understand PHP 5.x and MySQL 4.1.x will break many, if not most, of the scripts on the client sites of a hosting server. They would be fine for personal use. They do work with scripts designed for them. But, if you're a web host with clients, I wouldn't be in such a rush.

 

[gorilla]

You gotta start somewhere though , dont you ? Am pretty sure that Nick and his boys are very aware of php5 .

 

[FWC]

You gotta start somewhere though , dont you ? Am pretty sure that Nick and his boys are very aware of php5 .

Nick and the boys didn't write all those forum, CMS, shopping cart, etc. scripts on your clients sites. You upgrade to the "latest and greatest" and your clients sites break. They bitch to you. You bitch to Nick. And things still don't work. What good does that do? Give it some time. Let the script authors update their products. Have available solutions when all your clients go down. You may be a masochist, I'm not.

 

[chirpy]

If you want the latest and greatest of something, you really should be running your own OS and configurations. A control panel system should first and foremost be stable. That is. everything running on the server should run together without issues. Once you start introducing anything that threatens that stability, you're greatly increasing the risks that people with little technical knowledge will think "ooh, that looks nice", install it, trash their server and come crying to cPanel who would and should not give them any support at all.

If you want to play, feel free to do so, but in asking for such changes to the stability of the product, you're only encouraging those that think the latest is the best - that is simply not always the case.

Edit: I also agree with Fredo, weighting a poll in your favour is only going to upset people. If that is not your attention, you should listen a little.

 

[jfxberns]

Maybe we should refrase it for you

cPanel is not fully tested with these 'PRODUCTION RELEASES' and is therefore in beta with regards to these products.

That I accept! That is a reasonable way to phrase it!

 

[Aric1]

Not to mention that there are still commonly used scripts out there that don't work properly with php5. Wouldn't be a big deal if enough time had passed that all scripts have been checked for php5 compatibility, but I know I wouldn't relish saying to my customers... "Sorry your script no longer works, but hey, that's progress! You'll have to wait until a php5 compatible upgrade is offered."

Rightly, the end user will ask me exactly what they will gain from php5 and I'd have to say "not much." If you write PHP scripts for a living, then yes, you care, but most of the hosting masses don't even understand basic HTML much less how to modify or upgrade a PHP script or why they should care about php5 vs. php4. They just want stuff to work.

Beaides, PHP 5.0.2 is offered as an option... if you REALLY want it, go for it, but don't expect CPANEL to help you until they're sure said release is really ready for primetime.

 

[jfxberns]

If you write PHP scripts for a living, then yes, you care, but most of the hosting masses don't even understand basic HTML much less how to modify or upgrade a PHP script or why they should care about php5 vs. php4. They just want stuff to work.

Point well taken.

it's is CERTAINLY not an upgrade for the unwashed masses!

However, there are developers out there that are exisitng cPanel customers and DO want or NEED access to a stable PHP5 / MySQL 4.1 / mysqli platforn without having to manually compile the whole darn thing.

It is a stable platform for development and a stable platform for deploying PHP5 apps; I have the PHP5 /mhySQL 4.1 / mysqli running in both development and production environments and it works like a champ.

PHP5/mysqli is surely is not compatible with a lot of 3rd party packages at the moment--but that is a tradeoff I am willing to make for the plethora of new features and improvements that PHP5/mhysqli offers.

For the 1% (2%, 5%?) of cPanel customers that ARE in need of this platform, should they not have the option to do so and do so with an 'automated' and at least minimally tested solution?

Again I have to say: a certain percentage of people need it, so they will upgrade their systems. Isn't it better to have ONE cPanel tested (and controlled) manner of doing so than having 1000's of users going about it 1000's of different ways?

 

[tomakaze]

Progressiveness

Please let's not take for granted that we who are running our servers are mostly professionals who know what we are doing, and can weigh up pros / cons ourselves to make the decision on what configuration to run.

The only thing I don't care about, is other people's hosting clients and the scripts they use. I know what goes on with my server very well, and I manage mostly everything for my clients.

That being said, evolve the WHM to be as powerful as possible, and leave it up to us to do with it what we need. Otherwise, rebrand it Micky Mouse Manager and I'll let my Dad take over the administration

I do realise of course that these things take time to be implemented, I would just hate to see progress slowed down because of generalising and misinterpreting people's needs.

Speaking of progress, I'd also like to plug my very own feature request for Darwin Streaming that I feel must be made a priority by cPanel, but it needs a lot of help, so I hope you don't mind:
http://forums.cpanel.net/showthread.php?p=156453

 

[jfxberns]

Again, nobody is saying to move the whole darn platform to PHP5/MySQL 4.1/mysqli--just provide a standard and CLEARLY LABELED "experimental" option for those who need it.

If you do host sites for clients DO NOT install the experimental version. You would have to be a fool to do that given it's minimal 3rd party application support a this time.

But what I don't get is why are so many people so vehemently opposed to providing this as an OPTION for those who NEED it and don't want to be forced to manually compile it?

It would be an option, not something forced on you! And, hopefully, clearly marked as:

"YOU DO THIS AT YOUR OWN PERIL AND WE DON'T SUPPORT IT AND YOU ARE ALL ALONE AND TOTALLY HOSED IF THIS SCREWS THINGS UP FOR YOU!"

People are going to make the move to PHP5?MySQL 4.1/mysqli. Better to have one way (even if it's unsupported) to do it than having it done a thousand differnt ways by a thousand different and desperate people... If there is standard way to make the upgrade thse of us that shoose to do so can compare notes and we will have an equation with one less variable in it...

 

[tomakaze]

I agree with these pro PHP5 posts. If you don't want it, then you are not affected, and for those who do, it opens up much needed possibilities. The only issue is that it puts some more pressure on the cPanel team, but I can't say I feel bad about that at all, and after all they had better start integrating support for PHP5 sooner than later.

It seems to me that there is a rift between the pros and the general users of cPanel, but there shouldn't be. If anything, we can help push in positive directions, and the rest don't have to be afraid they are taken along for a rough ride, because when features are there, they don't have to be used.

Of course what would be really interesting is the possibility of an installation of php5 for specific accounts, and whatever infrastructure is required for that, ie, a separate Apache installation, but I realize that is way beyond the realm of possibility, and it's probably not healthy for long term stability.

 

[hostmedic]

Virtuoso ? Maybe

What about using VPS --- then each VPS installation could have its own version ...
OK --- I am dreaming --- guess its the hour of night....

A quick note - I would like to see this option in the future as well.

Nick and his group have done wonders with this control panel.

I am sure he will try to please the masses as well as everyone else where possible.