Following a recent incident (which we’ll have more to say about at a later date) regarding PHPixie, Reddit, and ultimately, the PHP-FIG, many projects left the FIG. The #pixiegate turmoil, while far from the only reason for the departure of some projects, was enough to make members re-evalate their role in the FIG and the FIG’s purpose around their work.
Almost immediately after supporting Propel’s departure from the FIG, Marc Schmidt founded PHP-CDS, where CDS stands for Community Driven Standards - a name much more in line with what the FIG had become.
The CDS (when generalized) has one purpose: to allow anyone to suggest improvements to the current body of standards in the PHP language, all via Github issues. There is no membership, no application process, and no bureaucracy. The users of the language do the voting with upvotes and comments, and the proposals are developed “live” - as people provide comments, the draft is amended and the proposal ironed out.
The CDS includes several repositories, each with its own purpose:
- php-cds to suggest RFCs
- php-cds-psr to suggest PSRs
- php-cds-discussion to discuss the proposals in either php-cds or php-cds-psr
Taking a look at the discussions alone, it’s apparent that there’s a lot of passion (90+ replies in 4 days!) in being able to openly discuss improvements to the language, without being hindered by an outdated and impractical UI (Google Groups / mailing list) or layers of bureaucracy. Granted, the PHP-FIG 3.0 is, allegedly, a step in the right direction - with more focus on projects and less on politics, but to be frank even that announcement sounded too political to me to continue reading.
I urge you to look at the CDS README - it’s a good read and good idea, regardless of what comes of it in the end, if anything.
What do you think of PHP-CDS? Do you think it has a chance to give PHP-FIG a run for its money, or is it an HHVM-like effort that’ll do little more than nudge PHP-FIG in the right direction?