

PHP JSON removed in PHP 5.5 - envex
http://iteration99.com/2013/php-json-removed-from-php-5-5/?utm_source=buffer&utm_campaign=Buffer&utm_content=buffer6f958&utm_medium=twitter

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ealexhudson
I don't think the title is correct: JSON being pulled is not mentioned in
[http://php.net/manual/en/migration55.changes.php](http://php.net/manual/en/migration55.changes.php)

It is probably the case that in common Linux distributions, the build of PHP
has the relevant functionality removed, as the license does obviously
conflict.

It's a shame that only IBM gets dispensation to do evil :(

~~~
wendall911
Here is a better summary of the situation:
[http://liorkaplan.wordpress.com/2013/06/01/bye-bye-non-
free-...](http://liorkaplan.wordpress.com/2013/06/01/bye-bye-non-free-php-
json-extension/)

~~~
bilalq
Thanks, that cleared things up quite a bit. It seems that it is isolated to
Debian unstable. Even that problem should be resolved soon through an
alternative JSON extension.

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meritt
This all boils down to Crockford being intentionally annoying about the
licensing.

Video here:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hCimLnIsDA](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hCimLnIsDA)

~~~
gargoiler00
It would probably take at most a few hours to rewrite a JSON encoder and
decoder. It's hardly a complex piece of code is it.

~~~
tlongren
Not to mention the hundreds of third party json PHP classes.

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krob
I call B.S. No way they are removing json_encode/json_decode from php. That
would essentially be removing an extremely high-volume method from the php
stack.

~~~
consciousness
I second your call. That would be a completely insane move!

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pilif
I'm seriously torn about this. On one hand, of course, Debian is kind of right
in their assessment and strictly speaking, the JSON extension and with that
the PHP package is not entirely free software.

On the other hand, the risk of anything bad coming out of shipping code with
this license (evil people will have no qualms violating the license :-) ) is
very close to zero. However, the risk of people being seriously pissed off at
the next version of Debian (or Ubuntu) breaking all their web applications is
really high.

Yes, an alternate extension is starting to exist, but it might either work
subtly differently from the built-in one (you know, bugs exist and people
might depend upon them), or worse, might have security flaws remaining
undiscovered due to fewer eyes reviewing the much smaller in scope extension.

This is not just bad for users, but also for developers of libraries who now
have to take extra care to support the other extension.

It's ridiculous to having to go through all this trouble for some evil people
to be able to use Debian :-)

Thank god I moved to packaging and deploying our own PHP for our application.
Having to deal with a non-standard JSON extension for no reason but politics
and lack of pragmatism would piss me off endlessly.

That all said and after having vented my frustration: I still see where Debian
is coming from and I can also kind of understand their decision. Of course it
still pisses me off, but I can understand it.

Maybe Debian (and by extension Ubuntu) just isn't the right distro for me.
Though seeing that the replacement extension is made by a Fedora developer, I
seem to be running out of options :-)

~~~
mhurron
> Debian is kind of right in their assessment

There really isn't a 'kind of right' here, it is either Free (which Debian
clearly defines) or it is not. It is not, so it has got to go.

Debian doesn't care about 'people being pissed off' because they are a non-
commercial distro that is committed to staying 'Free'. Principles are what the
whole project is about.

This is the type of thing that happens when you try to be cute with something
that has a legal meaning.

------
swang
Short summary, JSON is not removed from PHP. Some distros of Linux
(specifically mentioned were Mandriva/Fedora/Debian) have replaced the version
written by Crockford with another alternative: jsonc

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dasil003
404 link is quite the coincidence.

~~~
livingparadox
It actually timed a little while ago.

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eksith
Apparently the reason for this is the "Software shall be used for good" clause
in the license, but I believe IBM obtained a special exemption that it may be
used for evil as well.

Surely, the PHP folks can acquire a similar variation?

~~~
LawnGnome
Nope: Crockford has been asked and declined, per
[https://bugs.php.net/bug.php?id=63520#1352964601](https://bugs.php.net/bug.php?id=63520#1352964601).

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lsh123
Reading the comments to the PHP bug, I find it funny that "The Software shall
be used for Good, not Evil." license clause was _not_ approved by Google :) :)
:)

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Achshar
The link is 404 so In layman terms, unless some other extension comes up with
exact same function names, my json_encode/json_decode will stop working in
5.5? fuck.

~~~
datasage
Only with the version included in the Debian repositories.

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senekisa
404 link :/

