[PROPOSAL] Slightly modified release process

[Leif Hedstrom <zw...@apache.org>]

Hi all,

as presented and discussed at the ATS Summit, I’d like to propose a small, but important, change to the LTS release process:

	- We can make minor releases, with small, safe feature additions, without resetting the LTS support timer.


What this means is that we can make e.g. an  ATS v8.1.0 anytime before the v9.0.0, but the LTS support timer for 8.x remains the same: 2 years + 6 months from the first release of v8.0.0.

The same rules as before applies, with the addendum that for features to be considered for a minor release, they have to be very, very safe. Ideally, they would have a configuration option (off by default), such that upgrading between minor releases is 100% safe. Of course, as before, all versions within a major release must be 100% compatible (exception: security changes).

The goal of this is that we can, and should, be able to make point releases during the 2 year LTS cycle, with smaller features that are safe and useful.

Please let me know if there are any objections to this. I’ve updated the release schedule at

	https://cwiki.apache.org/confluence/display/TS/Release+Management

Cheers,

— Leif