Closed issue by the-eater on void-packages repository

https://github.com/void-linux/void-packages/issues/31678

Description:
Currently we only provide one leading php version which is currently pinned at php 7.4 (the latest supported version of php 7)

this has generally not been a problem since the migration from php 5.6 to php 7.0 was rather painless, however with php 8 this is not as painless and because of new features and changes in behavior loads of projects may or will be broken.

but php 8 is currently the leading version (and also i want to play with it) and waiting for adoption seems a bit misguided and annoying for everyone (me) wanting to adopt php 8.

To resolve this situation I am proposing the following

- [ ] Move `php` to `php7`
- [ ] Create xbps-alternatives group for php which symlinks the correct folders and binaries
- [ ] Create new `php8` package
- [ ] Copy and move all php extensions to `php7` and `php8` prefixed packages (these are `xdebug`, `php-apcu`, `php-ast`, `php-igbinary` and `php-imagick`)
- [ ] Provide a wrapper script for `pecl` (from the new `pear` package) (`pecl7` and `pecl8`) which sets the correct program suffix for compiling pecl extensions

both php versions will have matching postfixes e.g. `php7` will provide `php7` and it's config files will live in `/etc/php7` etc.

If we do migration of `php` -> `php7` correctly there should be no conflicts, we can move the `/etc/php` to `/etc/php7` directory if present.

php packages directly affected:

`phpMyAdmin` and `ampache`: DIY hosting package, so can be kept an exercise to the reader
`phoronix-test-suite`: We need to check for php8 support, if there is none we can pin and patch it to use php7
`composer`: Works on both php7 and php8 so can be kept as is
`pear` (replaces php-pear): Works on both php7 and php8 and can be mostly kept as is except the pecl part, which is explained in my TODO list
`php-*`: Are all bundled extensions with the exception of the items listed above, but these can all be migrated alike php
`xdebug`: Non-bundled extension but can me migrated alike the other extensions

Before I do any of this I would like some feedback if this the correct way forward or if there's a better way to do so

/cc @paper42 (because you raised this issue)

Fuck I am basically back at doing the shit I did at my first job