I personally don't know much but from reading replies I think this reply [0] by Philip Sturgeon might give the most insight:
> I do not accept this.
> You are one of the most active, motivated and appreciated contributors
of PHP over the last few years. Not to shit on anyone specifically,
but there are only 4 or 5 people doing 80% of the work of PHP
recently, and you are one of them.
> Scalar Type Hints are a massive burden, and you're stuck in the middle
of everyone who has a strong opinion about either strict or weak and
getting screamed at by both camps at the same time as getting crap
from the people who dont want either.
> I constantly see people giving you shit in here, on Reddit,
StackOverflow Chat and wherever else and it sickens me. They're
condescending, patronising or at the very least missing some P's and
Q's which are fairly important when giving feedback as harsh as they
often give.
> The lack of respect between contributors here in general sickens me,
and I'm not known as somebody who is wildly polite at all times.
> Scalar Type Hinting was the closest it's ever been. If the workload is
too much then stick to one RFC at a time, but to remove yourself from
the equation is a massive loss for PHP as a whole. I'm not trying to
place a burden on you, but your input will be sorely missed by a
massive number of people.
> Please, don't let the assholes win. PHP needs you.
> I do not accept this.
> You are one of the most active, motivated and appreciated contributors of PHP over the last few years. Not to shit on anyone specifically, but there are only 4 or 5 people doing 80% of the work of PHP recently, and you are one of them.
> Scalar Type Hints are a massive burden, and you're stuck in the middle of everyone who has a strong opinion about either strict or weak and getting screamed at by both camps at the same time as getting crap from the people who dont want either.
> I constantly see people giving you shit in here, on Reddit, StackOverflow Chat and wherever else and it sickens me. They're condescending, patronising or at the very least missing some P's and Q's which are fairly important when giving feedback as harsh as they often give.
> The lack of respect between contributors here in general sickens me, and I'm not known as somebody who is wildly polite at all times.
> Scalar Type Hinting was the closest it's ever been. If the workload is too much then stick to one RFC at a time, but to remove yourself from the equation is a massive loss for PHP as a whole. I'm not trying to place a burden on you, but your input will be sorely missed by a massive number of people.
> Please, don't let the assholes win. PHP needs you.
[0] http://news.php.net/php.internals/82754