On this episode of WPwatercooler titled EP468 – UncURLing WordPress 6.4, hosts Jason Tucker, Sé Reed, Jason Cosper, and Scott Kingsley Clark discuss the recent release of WordPress 6.4 and its implications. The conversation begins with a light-hearted introduction and quickly dives into the complexities and challenges surrounding the new update. Sé Reed shares her experience as a first-time release lead, highlighting the social, community, leadership, and technological implications of the update. The panel delves into a critical issue that arose with the release, specifically concerning the ‘Requests’ library used by WordPress. A change in this library led to significant performance issues for certain hosting configurations, impacting many sites.

The discussion emphasizes the inherent challenges in testing every possible configuration in a diverse ecosystem like WordPress. The episode also touches on the broader issues of open-source funding and maintenance. The panelists highlight the underfunding of critical libraries and tools that form the backbone of WordPress and many other systems. They argue that the lack of attention and funding towards these essential components poses a risk to the stability and security of the wider web infrastructure.

The conversation extends to the governance and funding of PHP, the underlying programming language of WordPress, and the broader open-source ecosystem. The hosts discuss the need for more proactive support and funding from companies and individuals who benefit from these open-source resources. The episode concludes with a discussion on the new WPwatercooler community initiative called “Aftercooler,” designed to foster further discussions and interactions within the WPwatercooler community on our Discord.

Show Notes:
https://wpwatercooler.com/wpwatercooler/ep468-uncurling-wordpress-6-4/

Panel:
Jason Tucker, Sé Reed, Scott Kingsley Clark, Jason Cosper

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Chapters:
00:00:00 Introduction to Episode 468
00:00:26 Introduction of Panel Members
00:00:34 Introduction of Jason Cosper
00:00:41 Discussion on Discord and Podcasts
00:02:09 WordPress 6.4 Release and Initial Reactions
00:04:12 Impact of WordPress 6.4 on Various Plugins
00:05:39 Issue with the Request Library in WordPress 6.4
00:06:37 Discussing Specifics of the Request Library Issue
00:09:06 Importance of Neglected Components in WordPress
00:11:02 Funding and Support Challenges in Open Source Projects
00:13:37 The PHP Funding Dilemma
00:16:28 The Broader Impact of Underfunding in Open Source
00:20:06 The Responsibility of Companies in Open Source Funding
00:23:14 Discussing Analogies to Other Systems (Healthcare, etc.)
00:26:24 Reflections on the State of WordPress
00:28:35 Discussing Contributions to PHP and Related Libraries
00:30:03 The Challenges of Open Source Governance
00:32:05 Identifying and Addressing Systemic Issues in WordPress
00:34:00 Closing Remarks and Reflections
00:34:40 Announcement of Aftercooler on Discord
00:35:34 Conclusion of the Episode