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If you want newer software, why not upgrade to Ubuntu 20.04 LTS or even just the latest Ubuntu?

I mostly run 20.04 or 18.04 with the repo. But a lot of people won’t upgrade or use a third party repo.

“LTS” means “stuck with obsolete software”.

I absolutely think Ubuntu's update cycle is a big part of why PHP 8 doesn't have a higher adoption rate. The PHP webapps I write are all served by Ubuntu servers (on 20.04 LTS) and there isn't an official PHP 8 package yet. Even if you're running 21.04, PHP 8 still isn't available as an official package. Ubuntu 21.10 was just released and finally shipped PHP 8 packages, and PHP 7.4 support ends in roughly a month. Anyone sticking strictly to LTS releases won't get official PHP 8 support until ~5 months after PHP 7.4 support ends.