Im a release manager for PHP 8.1!

My permanent blog at benramsey.com is in a state where I am unable to update it. Its a long story that involves versions of Ruby gems removed from the repository, trapping me in a tangled web of Jekyll dependency hell, and I havent had the stomach to unravel it. In the meantime, Ill be posting here at dev.to/ramsey.

Last year, I tossed my hat in the ring to volunteer as a release manager for PHP 8.0, but I lost the vote to Gabriel Caruso, who has shown himself to be a very capable RM for the 8.0 series (congrats, Gabriel, and great work!). This year, when Sara announced the RM selection process for PHP 8.1, I almost decided against volunteering, but I finally decided to go for it, and Im glad I did.

Each set of release managers is usually comprised of a veteran RM and a rookie. This year, when Joe Watkins volunteered as the veteran RM, he asked to take on two rookies. As a result, Patrick Allaert and I were both selected as rookie RMs for the 8.1 series.

PHP release managers manage the release process, create a roadmap for the release, facilitate discussions and decisions about what goes into a release, package the releases, etc. Its a commitment of about three-and-a-half years, as they shepherd their minor version from alpha to beta to RC to GA to active support to security support and, finally, end-of-life. The supported versions page at php.net provides a good overview of this cycle.

You can read more about the PHP release process here:

• Request for Comments: Release Process
• PHP release process

Additionally, Eric Van Johnson has published a three-part interview in php[architect] magazine with PHP 8.0 release managers Sara Golemon and Gabriel Caruso. They go into a lot of the specifics.

• Community Corner: PHP 8 Release Managers: Interview with Sara Golemon and Gabriel Caruso, Part 1
• Part 2
• Part 3

Thank you so much to everyone for entrusting me to serve as one of the release managers for PHP 8.1! I look forward to working with Joe and Patrick over the next three-and-a-half years.