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Currently doing a version check for a minimum required PHP version, I came across some servers that say their PHP version (checked with phpversion) is:

PHP 5.2.0-8+etch16

Since I'm a Windows guy and no Linux/PHP guy, I failed to find meaningful results for the -8 and +etch16 parts.

My two questions are:

  • What does the -8 mean?
  • What does the +etch16 mean?

(I'm assuming that in my above example the actual core installed PHP version is 5.2.0).

Uwe Keim
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1 Answers1

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Those are local flags that indicate the specific packager's internal tracking of different builds they've made from the same PHP release. Likely this is their 8th release of PHP 5.2.0 and it includes version 16 of a set of patches (or build flags, or options, or whatever customization they've applied) for Debian Etch.

David Schwartz
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    Also, Debian Etch is seriously ancient, and so is its PHP ... I would say it is not suitable for generic internet facing applications due to security problems ... – rackandboneman Dec 17 '12 at 16:31