Jan 29: PHP 5.3 reached beta status

It's done 5.3 finally, after quite some discussions, reached beta state. So if you're not already on it it's now the perfect time to test it. Problems found now can be fixed before we mark it stable. Issues not find might need workarounds in your software which will cost you more time in the end. Or the way I often put it: Test now and complain or don't test and live with the consequences - we do our best but we certainly can't cover every edge cases especially in a version like 5.3 where we did quite some internal cleanup and added tons of new features.
The NEWS entry file is, compared to some previous alpha versions, quite short this time but still worth reading if you tested a previous alpha release.
Source tarballs can be found in my download directory, Windows builds in the Windows QA area.
Happy testing!
Jan 4: Seven things


- Sebastian's first foreign language was Latin, for me Latin was the reason to start programming (by trying to hack the vocabulary trainer my brother wrote, so I learned Basic instead of Latin)
- I started PHP since I was too dumb to get my Perl CGI scripts working after our home server crashed
- I still have more Perl books than PHP books
- Compiling PHP 4.0 on our Pentium 90 home server took a night or so - and often forgot to activate some extension I used
- I learned SQL using the university notes from my brother, and I soon learned that MySQL 3.23 doesn't support "CREATE VIEW"
- I used my unicycle to ride to the office where I had my first job application ever (that trick worked!)
- Sometimes I am tour guide in Munich, but only for friends, like Kore
And now I have to tag seven more people ...