Homebrew tap for PHP 5.6 to 8.6. PHP 8.6 is built nightly :beer:
2.9k
Stars
185
Forks
0
Open issues
12
Contributors
AI Analysis
A Homebrew tap that provides PHP versions 5.6 through 8.6 (including nightly builds of 8.6) for macOS and Linux, with support for multiple build variants (NTS, Debug, ZTS, Debug ZTS). It serves macOS and Linux developers who need specific PHP versions or non-standard builds unavailable through the official Homebrew PHP formulae, particularly those on Apple Silicon (arm64) or requiring legacy PHP versions.
Inferred from signals mentioned in the README (tests, CI, type safety) — not a review of the actual code.
AI's overall editorial judgment — not an average of the bars above, can weigh other factors too.
Homebrew tap providing PHP 5.6–8.6 builds for macOS and Linux with debug and thread-safety variants
homebrew-php is a community-maintained Homebrew tap that packages pre-built PHP binaries (versions 5.6 through 8.6-dev) for macOS and Linux, with variants for debugging and thread-safety. It serves developers who need multiple PHP versions on their machine without official Homebrew support. Adoption appears concentrated among PHP developers working on macOS, particularly those using older PHP versions or requiring debug symbols for extension development.
Created December 2019 by Shivam Mathur as a successor to the unmaintained official Homebrew/php tap. Fills the gap left when Homebrew removed PHP formula maintenance, offering an actively maintained alternative for developers unable to use Docker or containerized workflows on their development machines.
Steady adoption among a specific audience: PHP developers on macOS needing version flexibility. Growth appears organic rather than exponential—2,864 stars accumulated over ~6.5 years suggests stable niche usage rather than viral adoption. Related project shivammathur/setup-php (3,240 stars) indicates the author has built complementary tooling appreciated by the same community. Recent activity remains consistent (push within hours of evaluation date), signaling active maintenance rather than abandonment.
Adoption not verified through concrete metrics (no documented enterprise usage, no public testimonials or case studies in README). However, the project's longevity (6+ years), active CI/CD, and presence of related downstream projects (setup-php) suggest real but undocumented production usage among PHP developers. Mentions support for PHP 8.6 nightly builds, indicating active engagement with PHP development community.
Based on README, appears to be a collection of Homebrew formula definitions (Ruby) that download PHP source, compile with configurable options (debug, ZTS variants), and install as Homebrew packages. Likely uses standard Homebrew build infrastructure and CI workflows rather than custom compilation logic.
README mentions build and test status badges with passing workflows; specific test coverage metrics not documented in README. CI pipeline appears active (workflows referenced: 'Update and Build Formulae' and 'test.yml').
Last push 2026-07-07 03:41:38 (same day as evaluation). This is a strong indicator of active maintenance. Created 2019-12-20; repository has accumulated 6+ years of history. Slow star growth (1 star in last 7 days) does not indicate stagnation—this is a mature, niche tool with predictable, modest adoption patterns.
ADOPT IF: You are a PHP developer on macOS or Linux requiring multiple PHP versions, older unsupported versions (5.6–7.x), or debug symbols for extension development, and you prefer native Homebrew package management over Docker or source compilation. AVOID IF: You need vendor-supported, SLA-backed PHP distributions or you are using containerized workflows exclusively. MONITOR IF: You depend on this tap for production infrastructure—consider evaluating Docker or official vendor support as alternatives, since maintenance relies on a single maintainer.
Independent dimensions
Mainstream potential
3/10
Technical importance
6/10
Adoption evidence
4/10
- Single maintainer dependency: Project sustainability hinges on Shivam Mathur's continued availability. No evidence of backup maintainers or organizational backing.
- Older PHP versions still supported (5.6–7.3 EOL since 2019–2022): Maintaining builds for unsupported versions increases attack surface if security patches are not available upstream.
- macOS/Linux architecture parity not guaranteed: Builds may diverge across operating systems due to toolchain differences; README does not document how divergence is tested.
- No public SLA or support model: This is community-maintained software with no formal support guarantees, suitable only for optional dev-machine tooling, not production infrastructure.
- Nightly PHP 8.6 builds may introduce instability: Early-stage language builds could break in unpredictable ways; not recommended for production unless explicitly tested by end users.
Project will likely remain actively maintained at current pace—stable, slow growth in a permanent niche (PHP developers preferring Homebrew). Mainstream adoption (beyond PHP community) unlikely. Risk: if Homebrew policies change significantly or if maintainer availability shifts, could require community fork or consolidation.
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Languages
Information
- Language
- Ruby
- License
- MIT
- Last updated
- 1d ago
- Created
- 80mo ago
- Analyzed with
- anthropic/claude-haiku-4-5
Stars over time
Contributors over time
Top 100 contributors only — repos with more will plateau at 100.
Open issues
No open issues — clean slate.
Open pull requests
No open pull requests.
Top contributors
Recent releases
No releases published yet.
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Core Homebrew offers PHP, but PHP formulae maintenance was deprecated. This tap exists precisely because official Homebrew no longer maintains PHP packages actively.
Shell-based tool for compiling PHP from source. Requires manual compilation; homebrew-php offers pre-built binaries. Trade-off: ease vs. customization.
macOS-native UI for managing PHP versions. Complements rather than competes with homebrew-php; phpmon likely uses Homebrew-installed PHP as backend.
GitHub Actions workflow for CI/CD PHP setup. Different use case (ephemeral CI environments vs. persistent dev machines). Same author, suggesting they are complementary tools.
Provides statically-linked PHP builds. Targets different use case (portable, self-contained binaries); homebrew-php targets system package management.
