+1
On Wed, Nov 19, 2025 at 4:52 PM Josh McKenzie <[email protected]> wrote: > > I propose we vote on adding the below text to our wiki > (https://cwiki.apache.org/confluence/display/cassandra/) and start executing > on this release cycle. > > Discuss thread: > https://lists.apache.org/thread/y3fyv596h83vwmpc85x4vpq78p1r12l4 > > [VOTING STRUCTURE] > Current roll call is 27 (see: > https://cwiki.apache.org/confluence/display/CASSANDRA/Cassandra+Project+Governance) > > Procedure for this vote: this is a process change. See governance doc here: > https://cwiki.apache.org/confluence/display/CASSANDRA/Cassandra+Project+Governance > > Discussion / binding votes on project structure and governance changes > (adopting subprojects, how we vote and govern, etc). (super majority) > > > A majority of the electorate at the time a vote is called is the > low-watermark for votes in favour necessary to pass a motion; that is, both > types of majority votes (simple and super-majority) require this 50% of last > roll call participation. > > > Super majority voting: 66% of votes must be in favor to pass. Requires 50% > participation of roll call. > > So 14 binding participants required, 10 of which must be in favor. > > I'll plan on leaving the vote open through at least Dec 1 given the upcoming > holiday week; if we hit the required low water mark for it and have very > clear consensus at that point I'll poll to close it early so we can get this > codified and move on to other discussions. > > Text to vote on as follows: > --- > Summary: > We target a yearly MAJOR release cadence, cutting a new release branch on > April 1st that we then stabilize. Our yearly branching cadence will run from > April to April - this avoids holiday crunch on feature finalization. We will > release alphas at the beginning of all other quarters (i.e. July, October, > January). > > Alphas give downstream users a stable snapshot for qualification and internal > testing that is much nearer the upcoming GA. > > All dates are aspirational - we’re an open‑source project that relies on > volunteers, so flexibility is expected. > > See our Release Lifecycle wiki for details on the definitions of alpha, beta, > and rc: > https://cwiki.apache.org/confluence/display/CASSANDRA/Release+Lifecycle > > Yearly MAJOR release cadence: > > A release branch from trunk is created April 1st. > A MAJOR.0.0-beta1 release is packaged from that branch and made available > shortly after freeze date. > Only features that have reached -beta / experimental status will be available > in the next MAJOR. > We cut new -betaN releases as needed (see Release Lifecycle documentation). > There is no fixed calendar lifecycle for beta progression. > RCs and the final GA follow the normal release lifecycle process (beta -> rc > -> ga) and are cut based on criteria in our Release Lifecycle. > A new -beta1 for the next MAJOR is always cut the next April 1 after the > prior -beta1 independent of when the prior .MAJOR reaches GA. > Stabilization of adjacent .MAJOR lines and promotion from beta to rc to ga > are independent. > > Alpha release cadence: > > At the start of each non-April quarter we cut an alpha-N release. > Target dates will be July 1st (alpha-1), October 1st (alpha-2), Jan 1st > (alpha-3). > For alpha releases, it's built and released from a tag. No new branches. > Alphas receive no support; security fixes or bug‑fix backports are applied > only to trunk and GA branches. > Alphas go through the standard Apache release process; they are voted on, > artifacts prepared, and notification is sent on the dev@, user@, and ASF > slack channels but not published on the download page. > > Subprojects: > > Sub‑projects are encouraged but not required to follow the same April → July > → Oct → Jan cadence; they may skip a quarter if there is nothing releasable > after a brief dev@ discussion. > > Transition: > > Rather than waiting until April of 2026 for 6.0 as per the new schedule, > since it's been over a year since 5.0 released we will plan to release 6.0 > any time between now and April of 2026 at the latest. The train may leave > early but worst-case it'll go out on time. > We will plan on cutting 7.0 in April of 2027 > >
