Over the years, PHP has done a more-than-admirable job of mitigating backward compatibility (BC) where possible and documenting everything else really well. If you look at the current PHP-8.0.0 BC page on their website you'll see very detailed description of what breaks. Often times, the changes required that break BC are a result of earlier mistakes that are now being corrected after years of warnings. The other area PHP excels at is documentation. I've had very little code actually break at upgrade time. Why? Well first, I write good code. Second, I'm mindful of pending upgrades and begin plotting upgrade paths as soon as practicable. I pour of my code to ensure impending BC issues are mitigated pre-upgrade. I have a unit test suite at the ready for upgrade day and make short work of any stray issues. In my 25 years working with PHP, I've never had to stay late after work on upgrade day. Not once. It's true. PHP's usage numbers have declined somewhat over the years. But "ever more people abandoning the language" hardly suits the facts. PHP powers 8 out of 10 web servers in the world. The fact that it was 8.01 last June is of no concern to anyone not jumping ship. The bulk of your gripes seem to home in on having to work to maintain your code as the language you chose to write it in evolves, matures, advances. It appears as though you got yourself a shiny new toy and threw away your old one. That's okay. And it's okay to jump ship too. Just make sure you bring a life-preserver. And write good code that survives version BC issues. Because all server-side toys, new and old, shiny and dull, have them.

PIPEDA is a joke as well. Always have been, both of them. Complaints filed with the federal privacy commissioner go through a process that is laughable. The first step is to send the matter back to the complainant with a letter suggesting the first course of action is to try and settle the matter with the infringing party. Are you kidding me? Do we ask bank managers to head out and try to negotiate with the bank robbers to not take their money? Seriously. Our tenant association was told this when we filed a complaint about the security camera [with live real time staff access] in the laundry room, something the feds acknowledged was a serious breach. And the federal privacy commission isn't the only federal department stocked with bureaucrats who are incensed that taxpayers actually want them to look up from their window view, get off their asses, and actually do their job. It doesn't matter that a political party has chosen to give the federal privacy statutes some baby teeth when those trusted to enforce them are quite content giving gummers to their masters. Yeah. I'll try not to laugh.

The cartel up here in Canada, comprised of Bell, Rogers and Telus (collectively, Robellus), shifted toward sports and media concentration to fight cord cutting. Our cartel is heavily vested in the sports scene up here. Their TV subscription plans are still very much bloated and overpriced, but if you want to watch NHL, MLB, NBA, NFL, CFL or MLS... you pay. Sportsnet (Rogers) owns the broadcast rights to NHL, TSN (Bell) owns the rights to CFL, and both openly collude to control the rest. Media concentration, run amok under the auspices of the CRTC and Industry Canada, sees Rogers and Bell own (sometimes jointly), sports teams, the stadium they plan it, the channels they broadcast on, and the internet pipes they stream on. There is no escape. Their dominance for example resulted in an across the board 300 - 500% increase in cable subscription plans for licensed premises in Canada, bars and pubs, based on a licensed capacity pricing model. And get this. Both Rogers and Bell, arch enemies and competitors controlling almost 90% of cable TV market share, announced those price increases very quietly to their customers on the exact same day. What are the odds of that happening without collusion? One in.... I don't think English has words for a number that high. The cord cutting phenomenon is alive and well up here, save for that whole sports thing. But one additional phenomenon that has become prevalent is "seasonal" cord cutting. I for one subscribe to cable from September 30 through April 10 - the NHL regular season. Come April I quit cable, since almost all NHL playoffs are broadcast OTA on the CBC and CityTV. On the other hand, I have quit early in the past if my team sucks balls. NHL Center Ice is just not an option - also run by Rogers north of the 49th and subject to local blackouts. And don't even get me started about their pro sports blackout regime - it's pathetic. Only when the fans start rejecting the pricing model of sports broadcasting and the leagues start feeling the dwindling fan support will any of that change, and as far as I know Rogers' NHL viewership numbers are heading south faster than a duck in winter.