Add PHP 8.4 support

[thueske]

Previously:

• Add PHP 8.1 #666
• Add PHP 8.2 Support #783
• Add PHP 8.3 Support #861

[thueske]

Would be super cool if we already have a PHP 8.4 image with WordPress to test the compatibility of plugins & themes.

Maybe @LaurentGoderre or @tianon can take a look at the PR?

[tianon]

This is a great idea! Unfortunately, it looks like we get hung up on Imagick/imagick#689 (and thus need Imagick/imagick#690). 😞

[sebcode]

pecl imagick is basically unmaintained.

@thueske This adds necessary patches to this PR to make the build work with php 8.4: thueske#1

[tianon]

Has there been any work in WordPress upstream to evaluate this dependency (and alternatives)?

[sebcode]

@tianon I’m not aware of any alternatives being actively considered. Imagemagick is the best option for processing images with PHP. GD is a works too but produces lower-quality images. Main issue is the lack of proper maintainer support of the pecl wrapper library. I think for now, the best approach is patching the library, which is also what Ondřej (maintainer of the widely-used PHP packages for Debian and Ubuntu) does.

[thueske]

Any updates based on this #932 (comment)? Would be great to have PHP 8.4 :)

[thueske]

WordPress 6.7 adds PHP 8.4 beta support. The latest commit from imagick is Mar 18, 2023. I think the patch here from @sebcode is the best solution.