+1 for Opt-1 Cheers, Lucas
On Fri, Jun 5, 2026 at 6:58 PM Omnia Ibrahim <[email protected]> wrote: > Hi all, > > There have been a few different opinions on the 4.4 schedule and as > release manager I need to put the final dates. I'd like to lock this in > early so please cast your vote below. > The two proposals are below along with a visualisation of both 4.4 > timelines and the downstream impact on 4.5. > > *1. Delay 4.4 by few weeks with 3+2+4* > KIP freeze = 8th > July 2026 (2nd Wed) > Feature freeze = KIP freeze + 3 weeks == 29th July 2026 > Code freeze = Feature freeze + 2 weeks == 12th Aug 2026 > Release target = Code freeze + 4 weeks == 9th Sep 2026 > > 4.5 impact: 4.5 KIP freeze would start Q4 2026 (around 14 Oct), with a > release target in Q1 2027 (around 20 Jan). This makes 4.5 a structurally > longer release — the gap between code freeze (25 Nov) and release target is > approximately 8 weeks, absorbing the holiday period. > > *2. Push 4.4 to be the last release in 2026 by target Oct for release > target with 3+3+4 only for this one— This means KIP freeze start end of > July 2026* > > KIP freeze = 29th > July 2026 > Feature freeze = KIP freeze + 3 weeks == 19th Aug 2026 > Code freeze = Feature freeze + 3 weeks == 9th Sep 2026 > Release target = Code freeze + 4 weeks == 7th Oct 2026 > > The FF→CF window is 3 weeks rather than 2 (as in Option 1) to give the > community more stabilisation time, given how tight the cadence has been > this year. > > 4.5 impact: 4.5 KIP freeze starts 11 Nov 2026 (2nd Wed of November), code > freeze lands 23 Dec 2026, and release target is 20 Jan 2027. The community > takes the holiday break between code freeze and release — RC validation > resumes in January with no pressure to deliver over the break. > [image: Screenshot 2026-06-05 at 17.55.56.png] > > Please reply with: > > - +1 for Opt-1 — Option 1 (3+2+4, release 9 Sep 2026) > - +1 for Opt-2 — Option 2 (3+3+4, release 7 Oct 2026) > - 0 — No strong preference > > Vote closes Tuesday 9 Jun 2026 at 23:00 UTC. I will tally and post the > result. > > I personally vote +1 for Opt-2. > > Best, Omnia > > On 4 Jun 2026, at 09:32, Lucas Brutschy via dev <[email protected]> > wrote: > > I'm not sure I have a good overview of all the different proposals, > but I'd vote for Omnia's first proposal: push back the 4.4.0 KIP > freeze to early July, target a September release, and have the 4.5.0 > freezes this year and target the release date in January, and start > using Matthias' proposed schedule with 4.6.0. > > Cheers, > Lucas > > On Wed, Jun 3, 2026 at 11:38 PM <[email protected]> wrote: > > > In general, a 3+2+4 schedule was favored on the other thread, so I would > think using it would be good? > > > I know this is the favourite one on the other thread but I am thinking of > making exception for 4.4 and adopt the preferred one from 4.5 so we have > 4.4 target for Oct and 4.5 target is Q1 2027 > > WDYT? > > Sent from my iPhone > > On 3 Jun 2026, at 17:04, Matthias J. Sax <[email protected]> wrote: > > Yes, I meant 2026 and 2027... somehow lagged a year :D > > > In general, a 3+2+4 schedule was favored on the other thread, so I would > think using it would be good? > > For KIP freeze date, seems we have many different proposals > - Jun/15 (Monday) > - July/1st (Wednesday) > - July/8th (Wednesday) > - July/15th (Wednesday) > - July/29 (Wednesday) > > Maybe we should pick something in the middle like July/1st or July/8th as > a compromise? > > > -Matthias > > On 6/3/26 8:29 AM, Chia-Ping Tsai wrote: > > Omnia Ibrahim <[email protected]> 於 2026年6月3日 晚上8:50 寫道： > > > KIP freeze = 29th > July 2026 > Feature freeze = KIP freeze + 3 weeks == 19th Aug 2026 > Code freeze = Feature freeze + 3 weeks == 9th Sep 2026 > Release target = Code freeze + 4 weeks == 7th Oct 2026 > > +1 to this plan, allowing us to adopt the new schedule starting from 4.5.0 > I just realize how rushed our previous releases were in this year. Our > Kafka community is by far the most productive I’d say > Best, > Chia-Ping > > > >
