Issue #2508231 by timmillwood, amateescu, hussainweb, catch, dawehner, David_Rothstein, Mixologic, effulgentsia: Raise minimum required version of PHP to 5.5.9

Issue #2491155 by mikeburrelljr, Mac_Weber, opdavies: Update drupal.org and kernel.org URLs in core modules (Follow-up to 2489912)

Issue #2406681 by tstoeckler, hussainweb, alexpott, ParisLiakos, almaudoh, tadityar: Add an autoload.php in the repo root to control the autoloader of front controllers

Issue #2386247 by tstoeckler: install.php should pass the class loader down into install_begin_request()

Issue #2267551 followup by jfhovinne: [meta] Deal with PHP requirement vs. Debian PHP version numbering.

Issue #2267551 by jfhovinne, ParisLiakos, catch: PHP 5.4.5 needed to avoid zend failure when using autoloaded traits.

Issue #2019911 by johnmcc: Add install requirement that open_basedir() = Off since 8.x currently doesn't support it.

Issue #2038135 by RobLoach, donquixote, Crell, ParisLiakos, catch: Use the Composer autoloader to make everything simpler.

Issue #1355798 by Kjartan, xjm: Fixed Installer on PHP <5.3 results in parse error instead of warning about old php.

Issue #334024 by klausi, catch, beejeebus, sun: Use const keyword to define constants instead of define().

Nate Lampton authored Oct 30, 2011 and catch committed Nov 01, 2011

Issue #22336 by quicksketch, scor, boombatower, and rfay. Move all core Drupal files under a core subdirectory.

Nate Lampton authored Oct 30, 2011 and catch committed Nov 01, 2011

Issue #22336 by quicksketch, scor, boombatower, and rfay. Move all core Drupal files under a core subdirectory.

#722974 by chx, moshe weitzman, David_Rothstein: Fixed install script returns a blank page for PHP 5.1.

- Patch #590656 by pwolanin, Pasqualle: harden one-time login links against vulnerability from disclosure of SQL backups, or SQL 'SELECT' injection.

#299308 by redndahead, Dave Reid, dropcube, catch, redndahead, and dbabbage: Add POD to installation requirements.

#420358 follow-up by Dave Reid: Rename profiles default => standard and expert => minimal, for consistency with labels.

#420358 by yoroy, David_Rothstein, JacobSingh, et al: Rename core's installation profiles to be more clear.

- Patch #530652 by sun: _user_password_dynamic_validation() should be a #process of password_confirm().