[pawlshepherd]

So I've read plenty here about how updating to the 3.3 version of phpBB is a bad idea, and I was just wondering at what point it becomes a 'good idea'. Is it worth waiting for 3.3.3 to be released, or is 3.3.2 functional enough to not cause problems?

[Dion]

Since it appears the Argon2 password hashing issues are never going to be fixed in phpBB 3.3, if you are using phpBB 3.2.11, then there are two options:

1) Stick with 3.2.11 if you don't need any of the new features in the 3.3 branch
2) Migrate to 3.3.3+ if you do

Due to the above Argon2 password hashing issues , your version of PHP is extremely important when migrating to the phpBB 3.3 branch. If you are currently using PHP 7.2 or older and want to update PHP in the future, please make sure to skip PHP 7.3 and instead update to 7.4. If you hacked phpBB 3.2 and are currently using PHP 7.3, you should update to PHP 7.4 immediately after migrating to phpBB 3.3.3+.

[pawlshepherd]

Currently I'm using PHP 7.2.34 and phpBB 3.2.8
I don't tend to update things until I know it's 'safe', as I can't be bothered with the drama of figuring out how to fix things when it goes wrong!
Is there any real benefit to the upgrades?

[Dion]

If your site is working the way you want, then stick with what you have. Just guessing here, but I suspect the only reason to update phpBB/PHP in the future is if a phpBB accessory (style or extension) requires it.

[pawlshepherd]

Fair enough! I was mostly thinking that by updating I could make sure I was up to date with FLATBOOTS and BB(Extensions), hate all the "you have to update" notifications in the ACP!
I'll not bother for the time being though, things seem to be working.

As an aside, are there any negatives to installing GMP? Looking at the Browser/Mobile Notifications ext, and the current build requires it.
Senky is working on a version that doesn't need it installed, but it's not tested yet.

[WelshPaul]

If you're going to update then wait a few days and install phpBB 3.3.3.

FLATBOOTS & BBOOTS are outdated and if you use the latest release with the latest release of phpBB and use Recaptcha you're going to have major problems!

There hasn't been any new extension releases in ages and if you're extensions are outdated, you shuld have updated them some time ago.

My advice, sit tight! Wait for phpBB 3.3.3 and the next FLATBOOTS/BBOOTS update.

[Dion]

As an aside, are there any negatives to installing GMP? Looking at the Browser/Mobile Notifications ext, and the current build requires it.

GMP is an obsolete extension...all of its capabilities are available in the vastly-superior bcmath and openssl extensions. If you need gmp, however, I'm pretty sure you can enable it in your php.ini file, and then restart apache.

[pawlshepherd]

If you're going to update then wait a few days and install phpBB 3.3.3.

FLATBOOTS & BBOOTS are outdated and if you use the latest release with the latest release of phpBB and use Recaptcha you're going to have major problems!

There hasn't been any new extension releases in ages and if you're extensions are outdated, you shuld have updated them some time ago.

My advice, sit tight! Wait for phpBB 3.3.3 and the next FLATBOOTS/BBOOTS update.

Duly noted!
My extensions are up to date, but I'm a release behind on FLATBOOTS. The auto-updater doesn't seem to like me, so I'm going to manually update it when I can be bothered. Made a few template edits, don't fancy losing them.

As an aside, are there any negatives to installing GMP? Looking at the Browser/Mobile Notifications ext, and the current build requires it.

GMP is an obsolete extension...all of its capabilities are available in the vastly-superior bcmath and openssl extensions. If you need gmp, however, I'm pretty sure you can enable it in your php.ini file, and then restart apache.

I would assume that his beta build that doesn't use GMP perhaps make use of those instead? I've no idea!
When I get my laptop out tomorrow I'll see if I can figure out how to install/restart. One day I'll get myself an id1ot's guide for this stuff, I swear!