Hi Omnia, Thanks for putting these options together. +1 for Opt-1.
BTW, assuming the 3+2 schedule, the code freeze for 4.5.0 under Option 1 should be Nov 18 rather than Nov 25. Also, this means we will seamlessly transition into our ideal new cadence of 3 releases a year, with target release dates landing nicely in January, May, and August. Best, Chia-Ping On 2026/06/05 16:57:34 Omnia Ibrahim 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. > >  > 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 > >>> > >
