[Development] Focusing bug fixes to 5.9 branch and patch releases during H1/17

[Kevin Kofler]

Mathias Hasselmann wrote:
> Guys, by not delivering bugfix releases for arbitrary reasons we are
> risking to kill Qt's credibility as reliable toolkit. Our users trust in
> getting bugfix releases.

I agree with this. I really don't see why you don't postpone 5.9 instead. Qt 
used to release on a 9 to 12 month basis, now it is down to 6 months. And 
for 5.9, not even that, because somehow there is an unrealistic expectation 
that 5.9 magically makes up for the delays in releasing 5.8. The release 
schedule for 5.9 should be based on the actual 5.8 release date, not the 
planned 5.8 release date. The amount of churn is such that some distros are 
still working on packaging 5.8 while you are already about to branch 5.9.

I also agree with Marc Mutz (and no, you have not misread ;-) ) that the way 
the decision is being dictated onto the community runs counter to the "Open 
Governance" promises.

        Kevin Kofler