Symfony Station Communiqué — 16 February 2024. A look at Symfony, Drupal, PHP, Cybersec, and Fediverse News!
Tags: symfony, drupal, php, fediverse
Published: 2024-02-23 03:02:42

This communiqué [originally appeared on Symfony Station](https://symfonystation.mobileatom.net/Symfony-Station-Communique-16-February-2024). 

Welcome to this week's Symfony Station communiqué. It's your review of the essential news in the Symfony and PHP development communities focusing on protecting democracy. Because open-source equals open societies, peeps. We also cover the cybersecurity world and the Fediverse (more open-source).

We cover a brawl in the Mastodon community this week. And there is good content in all of our categories, so please take your time and enjoy the items most relevant and valuable to you. This is why we publish on Fridays. So you can savor it over your weekend. 😉

Or jump straight to your favorite section via our website.

- [Symfony](https://symfonystation.mobileatom.net/Symfony-Station-Communique-16-February-2024#symfony)
- [PHP](https://symfonystation.mobileatom.net/Symfony-Station-Communique-16-February-2024#php)
- [More Programming](https://symfonystation.mobileatom.net/Symfony-Station-Communique-16-February-2024#more)
- [Fighting for Democracy](https://symfonystation.mobileatom.net/Symfony-Station-Communique-16-February-2024#other)
- [Cybersecurity](https://symfonystation.mobileatom.net/Symfony-Station-Communique-16-February-2024#cybersecurity)
- [Fediverse](https://symfonystation.mobileatom.net/Symfony-Station-Communique-16-February-2024#fediverse)

Once again, thanks go out to Javier Eguiluz and Symfony for sharing [our communiqué](https://symfonystation.mobileatom.net/Symfony-Station-Communique-09-February-2024) in their [Week of Symfony](https://symfony.com/blog/a-week-of-symfony-893-5-11-february-2024). 


**My opinions will be in bold. And will often involve cursing. Because humans. And I have plenty of them this week.**

---

## Symfony

As always, we will start with the official news from Symfony.

Highlight -> "This week, Symfony maintained versions focused on fixing bugs and updating the translation of validation messages to many of the supported languages. Meanwhile, the upcoming Symfony 7.1 version improved the parsing/linting methods of ExpressionLanguage and also improved the BinaryFileResponse. Lastly, we published more details about the talks of the upcoming SymfonyLive Paris 2024 conference."

[A Week of Symfony #893 (5-11 February 2024)](https://symfony.com/blog/a-week-of-symfony-893-5-11-february-2024)

SymfonyCasts has:

[This week on SymfonyCasts!](https://5hy9x.r.ag.d.sendibm3.com/mk/mr/sh/1t6AVsd2XFnIGBrRERGJumwddAsNT1/bKFiWCP8K8ZT)


---

## Featured Item

Cory Doctorow opines on a recent study:

[Big Tech disrupted disruption](https://doctorow.medium.com/big-tech-disrupted-disruption-2a57b6178a00)

**More on why these enshittified mofos are the enemy of humanity.**

Stanford Law School has all the gory details:

[Co-opting Disruption](https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4713845)


---

### This Week

Filip Horvat explores:

[Mastering the ‘Decorator’ Design Pattern in Symfony](https://medium.com/@fico7489/mastering-the-decorator-design-pattern-in-symfony-b633c345dd77)

[Mastering the ‘Adapter’ Design Pattern in Symfony](https://medium.com/@fico7489/mastering-the-adapter-design-pattern-in-symfony-cb07b157bb34)

[Mastering the ‘Abstract Factory’ Design Pattern in Symfony](https://medium.com/@fico7489/mastering-the-abstract-factory-design-pattern-in-symfony-386c2c95bd9d)

Danil Bifidokk examines:

[Asynchronous state machine with Symfony Workflows](https://dev.to/bifidokk/asynchronous-state-machine-with-symfony-workflows-35jl)

Oliver Davies broadcasts:

[Episode 10: Twig, Symfony and SymfonyCasts with Ryan Weaver](https://www.oliverdavies.uk/podcast/10-ryan-weaver-symfonycast)

**Anything with Ryan involved is awesome.**

Alberto Robles (who may or may not be a robot) shows us:
  
[How to secure your Symfony Apps with HTTPS](https://bertorobles.medium.com/how-to-secure-your-symfony-apps-with-https-2bf238378633)

Ludo Dev asks:

[Recurring actions? Symfony and RabbitMQ for asynchronous events...](https://en.developpeur-freelance.io/rabbitmq-symfony/)

Vandeth Tho shows us:

[How I build platform that focusing on making Symfony workflow configuration easier with SymFlowBuilder](https://medium.com/@thovandeth/how-i-build-platform-that-focusing-on-making-symfony-workflow-configuration-easier-with-e26a38eea3ed)

### eCommerce

Specbee looks at:

[Driving E-Commerce Revenue Success with Drupal Commerce](https://www.specbee.com/blogs/driving-ecommerce-revenue-success-drupal-commerce)

Dragan Rapić shares:

[Securing Your Shopware 6 Shop](https://levelup.gitconnected.com/securing-your-shopware-6-shop-a10ed49df4fd)

### CMSs

TYPO3 has a case study:
  
[TYPO3 and DMK Power Digital Transition to Responsive, Accessible City Services](https://typo3.com/customers/case-studies/city-of-leipzig)

And:

[TYPO3 13.0.1, 12.4.11 and 11.5.35 security releases published](https://typo3.org/article/typo3-1301-12411-and-11535-security-releases-published)

Mike Street explores: 

[Testing the frontend of a TYPO3 project](https://www.mikestreety.co.uk/blog/testing-the-frontend-of-a-typo3-project/)

**Nice animated logo.**

<br/>

Contao has:

[Contao News](https://contao.org/de/news/contao-5-3-lts-ist-da)

<br/>

Drupal announces:

[Single Sign-On is coming to Drupal.org thanks to Cloud-IAM](https://www.drupal.org/drupalorg/blog/single-sign-on-is-coming-to-drupalorg-thanks-to-cloud-iam)

[It's time to migrate from Drupal 7. Let me show you (how to start)](https://www.drupal.org/drupalorg/blog/its-time-to-migrate-from-drupal-7-let-me-show-you-how-to-start)

[Bounty program extension (for innovative modules and ideas)](https://www.drupal.org/drupalorg/blog/bounty-program-extension-for-innovative-modules-and-ideas)

[Turning Takers into Makers: The enhanced Drupal Certified Partner Program](https://www.drupal.org/association/blog/turning-takers-into-makers-the-enhanced-drupal-certified-partner-program)

**This has set off a bruhaha with independent developers and small agencies. At a minimum Drupal sucks at naming things.**

Core Contributor, Gábor Hojtsy has:

[Looking for your input for DrupalCon Portland 2024 initiative highlights](https://www.hojtsy.hu/blog/2024-feb-12/looking-your-input-drupalcon-portland-2024-initiative-highlights)

[Onwards to Drupal 11 - ways to get involved](https://www.hojtsy.hu/blog/2024-feb-12/onwards-drupal-11-ways-get-involved)

**Recognize contributors everywhere and show them some love.**

[Upgraded my blog from Drupal 7 to Drupal 10 in less than 24 hours with the open source Acquia Migrate Accelerate](https://www.hojtsy.hu/blog/2024-feb-09/upgraded-my-blog-drupal-7-drupal-10-less-24-hours-open-source-acquia-migrate)

Quick aside:

**You know what easier than going from 7 to 10 (which is a pain in the ass), Moving to [Frontkom's Gutenberg Theme](https://www.drupal.org/project/gutenberg_starter) from DXPR's distribution. In an update from last week, we moved our [Mobile Atom Media site](https://media.mobileatom.net/) over in less than 12 hours, and 90% of that was content updates and custom CSS. :)**

**Note that the Gutenberg Starter Theme is not ready for production even though I am using it that way. There are a few bugs with certain blocks. Obviously, it doesn't have the same capabilities as the WordPress version (they are working on that). Still, if you are comfortable using the code editor rather than the visual one (and write HTML and CSS), you can come close. Plus it is compatible with Layout Builder and Drupal blocks (so you can keep your business logic).

**Unfortunately, when I tried to create a subtheme, add to regions, etc., I got the white screen of death. So keep that in mind and take them at their word on the not ready for production yet.**

TrueSummit announces:

[Search Web Components Alpha 2 Release](https://truesummit.dev/blog/search-web-components-alpha-2)

The Drop Times has an interview:

[André Angelantoni Discusses Automated Testing Kit Module](https://www.thedroptimes.com/37084/andre-angelantoni-discusses-automated-testing-kit-module)

ChapterThree has a case study:

[Apigee Kickstart in Action: Powering Financial Services](https://www.chapterthree.com/blog/apigee-kickstart-action-powering-financial-services)

Matt Glaman explores:

[Verifying your Drupal site’s configuration against changes from dependency updates](https://mglaman.medium.com/verifying-your-drupal-sites-configuration-against-changes-from-dependency-updates-385c08b332d9)

Oliver Davies has a few quick takes:
  
[Symfony conventions making their way to Drupal](https://www.oliverdavies.uk/archive/2024/02/12/symfony-conventions-making-their-way-to-drupal)

**The more, the merrier. And it's why I'm mastering Drupal before putting my big boy pants on and moving up to Symfony.**

[Major version updates are just removing deprecated code](https://www.oliverdavies.uk/archive/2024/02/14/major-version-updates-are-just-removing-deprecated-code)

ImageX shows us:
  
[How Project Browser Transforms Module Discovery and Installation Experience](https://imagexmedia.com/blog/drupal-project-browser)

DrupalizeMe demonstrates a great new feature:

[New in Drupal 10.2: Create a New Field UI](https://drupalize.me/blog/new-drupal-102-create-new-field-ui)

Golems examines:

[Exploring Drupal's Entity API: Tips and Tricks for Better Site Development](https://gole.ms/guidance/exploring-drupals-entity-api-tips-and-tricks-better-site-development)

### Previous Weeks

Acceseo looks at:

[Import map, simplificando procesos en el desarrollo web](https://www.acceseo.com/import-map-simplificando-procesos-en-el-desarrollo-web.html)
 

---
## PHP

### This Week

Mohammad Roshandelpoor explores:

[Makefile: Simplifying Command Execution and Automation](https://medium.com/@mohammad.roshandelpoor/makefile-simplifying-command-execution-and-automation-9dbaa6d91ac8)

Matthias Noback announces a:

[New edition for the Rector Book](https://matthiasnoback.nl/2024/02/new-edition-for-the-rector-book/)

**Similar to Matt Glaman's Retrofit project with Drupal 7 migration, I feel that products like Rector don't get the credit they deserve. So, if you work with legacy sites, I would buy the book.**

Camilo Herrea examines:

[Basic route management with PHP and Apache httpd](https://medium.com/winkhosting/basic-route-managament-with-php-and-apache-httpd-98f9126b1384)

**This was informative for a mainly frontend developer.**

Dragan Rapić shares:

[Troubleshooting PHP Errors](https://levelup.gitconnected.com/troubleshooting-php-errors-87f97f6e68d4)

Hamid Rohani looks at:

[Having trouble with `require` or `require_once` in PHP class files? Upgrade your project by implementing autoload with PSR-4](https://medium.com/@hamid.roohany/understanding-autoload-psr-4-in-php-simplifying-class-loading-for-efficient-development-70e0e21dbe40)

PhpStorm has:

[AI for PHP: How To Automate Unit Testing Using AI Assistant?](https://blog.jetbrains.com/phpstorm/2024/02/ai-for-php-how-to-automate-unit-testing-using-ai-assistant/)

And WebWash shows us:

[How to Compare Files and Sync Changes using PhpStorm](https://www.webwash.net/how-to-compare-files-and-sync-changes-using-phpstorm/)

  
Peter Fox shares:
  
[PHP: 7 tricks to help with upgrading Composer packages](https://articles.peterfox.me/php-7-tricks-upgrading-composer-packages-37c6e24b0f5f)

Ellis explores:

[Enhancing Code Consistency with php-cs-fixer and Visual Studio Code](https://dev.to/ellis22/enhancing-code-consistency-with-php-cs-fixer-and-visual-studio-code-221l)

Timothy Iloba examines:

[Return type declarations in PHP](https://medium.com/@timothyiloba/return-type-declarations-in-php-9e02dc7b13de)
  
### Previous Weeks

JoliCode shares:

[Héberger un projet PHP sans serveur avec WebAssembly](https://jolicode.com/blog/heberger-un-projet-php-sans-serveur-avec-webassembly)

---

## More Programming

Joan Westenberg preaches:

[Creators: go small. It’s your edge.](https://joanwestenberg.medium.com/creators-go-small-its-your-edge-d5261f3dc695)

**This is the way we have rolled for over ten years. You can build a sustainable business this way and live the life you want.**

[Forgejo forks its own path forward](https://forgejo.org/2024-02-forking-forward/)

Voices of Open Source has:

[A comparative view of AI definitions as we move toward standardization](https://blog.opensource.org/a-comparative-view-of-ai-definitions-as-we-move-toward-standardization/)

VentureBeat reports:

[Meta releases ‘Code Llama 70B’, an open-source behemoth to rival private AI development](https://venturebeat.com/ai/meta-releases-code-llama-70b-an-open-source-behemoth-to-rival-private-ai-development/)

**Hopefully it doesn't turn out anything like React did.**

Speaking of which, Infoworld reports:
  
[Reactive magic in Svelte 5: Understanding Runes](https://www.infoworld.com/article/3712688/reactive-magic-in-svelte-5-understanding-runes.html#tk.rss_all)

**Friends don't let friend use React.**

CSS god Josh Comeau shows us:
  
[How To Center a Div](https://www.joshwcomeau.com/css/center-a-div/)

**This sounds simple but it's one of the most frustrating things about CSS if you don't work with it everyday.**

Free Code Camp compares:

[Flexbox vs Grid in CSS – Which Should You Use?](https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/flexbox-vs-grid-in-css/)

Laravel News lists:

[Five Ways to Be More Productive with Git](https://laravel-news.com/five-ways-to-be-more-productive-with-git)


---

## Fighting for Democracy

[Please visit our Support Ukraine page](https://symfonystation.mobileatom.net/Support-Ukraine) to learn how you can help kick Russia out of Ukraine (eventually, like ending apartheid in South Africa).

### The cyber response to Russia’s War Crimes and other douchebaggery

  
The Register reports:
  
[FCC gets tough: Telcos must now tell you when your personal info is stolen](https://www.theregister.com/2024/02/12/fcc_gets_tough_on_telcos/)

The Verge reports:

[FCC commissioner wants to investigate Apple over Beeper Mini shutdown](https://www.theverge.com/2024/2/12/24071226/fcc-commissioner-brendan-carr-apple-beeper-mini)

**Isn't it nice having an FCC that at least tries to protect consumers rather than being big tech bootlickers.**

Ars Technica reports:  

[Backdoors that let cops decrypt messages violate human rights, EU court says](https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2024/02/human-rights-court-takes-stand-against-weakening-of-end-to-end-encryption/)

Euronews reports:
  
[Poland to investigate alleged use of Pegasus spyware by last government](https://www.euronews.com/2024/02/16/poland-to-investigate-alleged-use-of-pegasus-spyware-by-last-government)

### The Evil Empire Strikes Back

And:
  
['Kremlin conducting information operations against Moldova' says ISW](https://www.euronews.com/2024/02/16/kremlin-conducting-information-operations-against-moldova-says-isw)

MacRumors reports:

[iOS 17.4 Nerfs Web Apps in the EU](https://www.macrumors.com/2024/02/08/ios-17-4-nerfs-web-apps-in-the-eu/)

**The mofos at Apple fuck over PWAs in Europe. So, ditch the enshittification and get your next phone from [Murena](https://murena.com/). Be sure to get the latest Fairphone model. And FYI, this is not an affiliate link. It's my Valentine, birthday, holiday, etc. gift to you. 😘**

Or maybe everywhere according to Danny Moerkerke:

[Apple Wants To Kill PWAs](https://itnext.io/apple-wants-to-kill-pwas-0895be2e497b)

DarkReading reports:

[Deepfake Democracy: AI Technology Complicates Election Security](https://www.darkreading.com/application-security/deepfake-democracy-ai-technology-election-security)

Beeping Computer reports:

[Google says spyware vendors behind most zero-days it discovers](https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/google-says-spyware-vendors-behind-most-zero-days-it-discovers/)
  
[North Korean hackers now launder stolen crypto via YoMix tumbler](https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/north-korean-hackers-now-launder-stolen-crypto-via-yomix-tumbler/)

The New Republic reports:

[The Tech Plutocrats Dreaming of a Right-Wing San Francisco](https://newrepublic.com/article/178675/garry-tan-tech-san-francisco)

**This bullshit ideology is even trickling down to Mastodon. There's more on that below.**

Speaking of edgelord c^nts, the Verge reports:
  
[Terrorists are allegedly buying blue checks on X](https://www.theverge.com/2024/2/14/24073146/x-twitter-blue-check-hezbollah-terrorist-groups-sanctions)

Ars Technica reports:

[Elon Musk’s X allows China-based propaganda banned on other platforms](https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2024/02/elon-musks-x-allows-china-based-propaganda-banned-on-other-platforms/)

And you Silicon Valley fucks might want to pay attention to Blood in the Machines' article:

[Torching the Google car: Why the growing revolt against big tech just escalated](https://www.bloodinthemachine.com/p/torching-the-google-car-why-the-growing)

### Cybersecurity/Privacy

And:

[DuckDuckGo browser gets end-to-end encrypted sync feature](https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/duckduckgo-browser-gets-end-to-end-encrypted-sync-feature/)

CNN reports:

[US cracks down on hacking network with thousands of customers](https://www.cnn.com/2024/02/09/politics/justice-department-crack-down-hacking-network/index.html)

Amazee has a case study:
  
[A Large Credential Stuffing Attack - How We Respond and Mitigate](https://www.amazee.io/blog/post/a-large-credential-stuffing-attack)

**If you use cloud hosting for a decoupled and composable Drupal site, you should check out Amazee.**

The Verge reports:

[Microsoft and OpenAI say hackers are using ChatGPT to improve cyberattacks](https://www.theverge.com/2024/2/14/24072706/microsoft-openai-cyberattack-tools-ai-chatgpt)

DarkReading reports:
  
[Like Seat Belts and Airbags, 2FA Must Be Mandatory ASAP](https://www.darkreading.com/vulnerabilities-threats/2fa-must-be-mandatory-asap)

**It's sad that it's coming to this. Right?**

---

### Fediverse

The Fediverse Report has:

[Last Week in Fediverse – ep 55](https://fediversereport.com/last-week-in-fediverse-ep-55/)

A new flavor of Matrix is out:

[What is Commune?](https://blog.commune.sh/what-is-commune/)

Bix Dot Blog opines:

[ActivityPub Is To The IndieWeb As A.I. Is To Silicon Valley?](https://bix.blog/2024/01/11/activitypub-is-to-the-indieweb-as-a-i-is-to-silicon-valley/)

**Hmmm.**

Maho Pacheco shares:

[A Guide to Implementing ActivityPub in a Static Site (or Any Website) - Part 3](https://maho.dev/2024/02/a-guide-to-implementing-activitypub-in-a-static-site-or-any-website-part-3/)

**Great stuff.**

TechCrunch reports:

[Social networks are getting stingy with their data, leaving third-party developers in the lurch](https://techcrunch.com/2024/02/09/social-network-api-apps-twitter-reddit-threads-mastodon-bluesky/)

**Serving the Fediverse not enshits is the way for entrepreneurial developers to go.**

Speaking of which here's my rant about the latest Mastodon bruhaha:
  
[This Bluesky - Mastodon bridge shit](https://snarfed.org/2024-02-12_52106)

**The Fediverse is not 100% free of Silicon Valley tech bros either. So, FYI for said bros, 3rd party opt-out = invasive. You are making me opt out of something I never fucking asked for. Opt-in = privacy-oriented. If I like your product I will choose to use it. That's what's pissing people off in this bridge fiasco. The privacy concerns are slightly overblown.**

**Said bro walked his approach back a bit the next day after rightly getting his ass chewed off. Maybe.**

[This too.](https://snarfed.org/2024-02-13_52223)

**Personally, I came to the Fediverse to get away from these corporate like shenanigans.” *To me it's a matter of permission, privacy, and non-corporate social media.**

**To be fair the other side's view is that we want the reach of Mastodon to grow irrespective of how it gets there. The ends justify the means so to speak. 

**And it shouldn't be easy for you to have the level of privacy and safety you want. No default privacy for you. Nor making it hard for bullies to find you. Instead, you have to change settings, put bullshit hashtags in your profile, import block lists, host your own instance, transition into an old white man, hump a camel, etc..**

**With this mindset inevitably enshittification will occur with Mastodon. Later rather than sooner but still.**

**So, I will slowly be moving from @symfonystation@phpc.social Mastodon account to my self-hosted ActivityPub WordPress-based Fediverse account. Not immediately because ActivityPub and WordPress are a work in progress (especially interacting with 3rd party client apps). I will cross post for a while. Follow me there at @symfonystation@newsletter.mobileatom.net via your favorite platform.**

We Distribute has the growth at any cost view:

[Tear Down Walls, and Build Bridges](https://wedistribute.org/2024/02/tear-down-walls-not-bridges/)

**Of course its tech bro author was a jackass in it and had to apologize the next day on Mastodon.**

They do better with news than opinion:

[Bonfire Offers Framework for Next-Gen Fediverse Platforms](https://wedistribute.org/2024/02/bonfire-nextgen-framework/)

Speaking of Bluesky, Paul Frazee has some details on its federation:

[Why RichText facets in Bluesky](https://www.pfrazee.com/blog/why-facets)

**Note that Bluesky itself doesn't give a fuck about any kind of bridge. Or anyone on the Fediverse. And that's fine.**

Which is why the headline of this from TechCrunch is horseshit:

[Bluesky and Mastodon users are having a fight that could shape the next generation of social media](https://techcrunch.com/2024/02/14/bluesky-and-mastodon-users-are-having-a-fight-that-could-shape-the-next-generation-of-social-media/)

**I will end on a positive note. At least it does show that the bridge author is learning from his ill-considered project and trying to mitigate the damage it might cause.**


---



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## Author

![Reuben Walker headshot](https://symfonystation.mobileatom.net/sites/default/files/inline-images/Reuben-Walker-headshot.jpg)

### Reuben Walker

Founder
Symfony Station