Wez, I know you're busy, but this isn't some beginner trying to figure out
how to use their php.ini, y'know?
At present there are some PDO drivers relying on PECL source, and others
relying on their php-src/ext directories. All that does is mess up builds
where PHP and PECL are out of sync. It needs to be either one or the
other... given that this is the most recent PHP distro (5.1.3) 'out of the
box', which should it be?
Basically this - and the matter of built-in anythings - comes down to the
question of the way PECL is viewed. If it's intended purely as a development
area, then a PECL extension released with/alongside a PHP distro should be
the current stable release appropriate to that PHP version, and whether it's
built as static or not shouldn't be considered majorly important. In that
scenario, the snaps box should be clearly marked as a development tool and
should _only_ build shared extensions, using a current PECL CVS branch
corresponding to the appropriate PHP CVS branch. The only time most PHP
users would know snaps even exists would be when they'd reported a bug and
were testing a fix for it.
On the other hand, if the intention is that it should always be possible for
users to upgrade extensions via the snaps box without also upgrading PHP,
then the PHP build _needs_ to be synched with the relevant PECL CVS branch
(regardless of its development status), and every extension not regarded as
reliably stable _needs_ to be built as shared - whether this happens to be
as part of a PHP distro build or not. (But if that was the idea, what would
be the point in shipping any PECL extension as part of the PHP core distro?)
Short version: I think we're having a clash over intent here. It'd be handy
to know what yours is, given that you're running the show :)
- Steph
