Package: php-defaults X-Debbugs-Cc: [email protected], [email protected] Version: 98 Severity: wishlist
Hi, I would like to add a php-mariadb metapackage in php-defaults. While the upstream PHP modules use the name 'mysql', they are used with MariaDB in a growing number of projects. Introducing a php-mariadb metapackage would allow packages to explicitly express that they are developed/built with MariaDB, and if in future the upstream php-mysql module gains options that are specifically meant for MariaDB, this php-mariadb metapackage could be updated to point to it. Additionally, as Debian uses MariaDB as the default MySQL-compatible server, it feels odd for most PHP reverse dependencies to depend on a package called php-mysql. The upstream PHP documentation (https://www.php.net/manual/en/set.mysqlinfo.php) describes the "MySQL" extensions as MySQL protocol drivers over mysqlnd and explicitly lists MariaDB Server as a supported backend, so it is not wrong for a PHP/MariaDB program to depend on php-mysql, but having an alternative metapackage using the name php-mariadb seems like good preparation for the future. Locally I have the following addition in debian/control.in: Package: php-mariadb Architecture: all Depends: php-common, php@PHP_VERSION@-mysql, ${misc:Depends} Description: MariaDB/MySQL module for PHP (meta) There is no behaviour change for existing users: php-mysql stays as it is and continues to pull in php@PHP_VERSION@-mysql. php-mariadb is an additional metapackage that reverse dependencies can opt into if they want a MariaDB-first dependency that matches the current default and the upstream docs. I'll open a Salsa merge request for php-team/php-defaults implementing this and reference this bug there. Best regards, Aquila
