[PHP-DEV] RFC: testing php8.4 against libxml-rs (memory-safe libxml2) - Debian ITP #1146060

Mailing Lists php.internals
1

Hi,

libxml2 is unmaintained since Dec 2025. I built libxml-rs - native-Rust
reimplementation, C ABI compatible:

https://github.com/infinityabundance/libxml-rs
Debian ITP: https://bugs.debian.org/1146060

Phase 10 done: xmllint + xmlcatalog byte-identical to libxml2 2.15.3 /
libxslt 1.1.47, 1110 tests, xsltproc corpus identical.

Would you be open to a test build?

LD_LIBRARY_PATH=/path/to/libxml-rs/target/debug
php -m | grep -E ‘dom|xml|xsl’

Or: https://github.com/sparklemotion/nokogiri/discussions/3677
same ask for Nokogiri/lxml.

Targeting experimental as alternative provider, not default.

Best,
Riaan
https://github.com/infinityabundance

2

Le 29/08/2026 à 17:43, Riaan de Beer a écrit :

Hi,

libxml2 is unmaintained since Dec 2025. I built libxml-rs - native-Rust
reimplementation, C ABI compatible:

GitHub - infinityabundance/libxml-rs: Custodial native-Rust reimplementation of libxml2 + libxslt — Phase 11: historical matrix — semantic epochs · GitHub
Debian ITP: I Challenge Thee

Hello,

I won't tell if it's a good idea or not, I'm not a core contributor, but libxml2 doesn't seem to be unmaintained, yes the latest release is dated from dec. 2025, but the repository continue to live its life and has had many commits since: https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/libxml2/-/commits/master?ref_type=HEADS - I just think they don't have such breaking bug to fix.

XML is old and mature, libxml2 is old and mature, there's probably not much to add to it for it to work gracefully and they don't really need to create new releases that often.

Best regards,

Pierre

3

On Sat, Aug 29, 2026 at 12:13 PM Pierre <pierre-php@processus.org> wrote:

Le 29/08/2026 à 17:43, Riaan de Beer a écrit :

Hi,

libxml2 is unmaintained since Dec 2025. I built libxml-rs - native-Rust
reimplementation, C ABI compatible:

https://github.com/infinityabundance/libxml-rs
Debian ITP: https://bugs.debian.org/1146060

Hello,

I won’t tell if it’s a good idea or not, I’m not a core contributor, but
libxml2 doesn’t seem to be unmaintained, yes the latest release is dated
from dec. 2025, but the repository continue to live its life and has had
many commits since:
https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/libxml2/-/commits/master?ref_type=HEADS -
I just think they don’t have such breaking bug to fix.

XML is old and mature, libxml2 is old and mature, there’s probably not
much to add to it for it to work gracefully and they don’t really need
to create new releases that often.

Best regards,

Pierre

it was briefly unmaintained before new maintainers stepped up. https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/libxml2/-/work_items/1023 :person_shrugging:

4

Hi Riaan,

On Sat, 29 Aug 2026 at 16:46, Riaan de Beer
<rdebeer.infinityabundance@gmail.com> wrote:

Hi,

libxml2 is unmaintained since Dec 2025. I built libxml-rs - native-Rust
reimplementation, C ABI compatible:

GitHub - infinityabundance/libxml-rs: Custodial native-Rust reimplementation of libxml2 + libxslt — Phase 11: historical matrix — semantic epochs · GitHub
Debian ITP: I Challenge Thee

Phase 10 done: xmllint + xmlcatalog byte-identical to libxml2 2.15.3 /
libxslt 1.1.47, 1110 tests, xsltproc corpus identical.

Would you be open to a test build?

  LD_LIBRARY_PATH=/path/to/libxml-rs/target/debug \
  php -m | grep -E 'dom|xml|xsl'

Or: RFC: Testing Nokogiri against libxml-rs - memory-safe libxml2 · sparklemotion/nokogiri · Discussion #3677 · GitHub
same ask for Nokogiri/lxml.

Targeting experimental as alternative provider, not default.

Best,
Riaan
infinityabundance (riaan de beer) · GitHub

Not only, it is still active as mentioned but also one of the
maintainers actively helps us out too here and there.

Cheers.