Re: [DISCUSS] Pilot program of an officially supported backport branch

[Mick]

> On 13 Oct 2025, at 20:13, Štefan Miklošovič <smikloso...@apache.org> wrote:
> 
> What about this: do a proper 5.1 branch with everything (pipelines, release 
> ...) but put there only Java 21 support and CEP-37?
> 
> Release-wise, the appetite is there (Josh, Bernardo). We would keep 5.0 
> intact, 5.1 would be a branch we try this new model in, learn the lessons 
> from it. When we support Java 21 and CEP-37 as only two changes and nothing 
> else, it will already address Java 21 / unsupported Java 17 concerns and it 
> would bring a lot of relief to people trying to transition to 6.0 eventually 
> and they would have some time to prepare for that. Then, in 6.0, TCM / Accord 
> would be production ready waiting for them to migrate to, while they would 
> already be on Java 21 + repairs.


Yes Stefan, this has my vote.  This is an approach that is known and tangible 
to us, and bounded.

I do believe it will help both user and downstreamers move closer to trunk.  
This is a good thing, and the burden it introduces: forward merging and upgrade 
paths; we can manage (and importantly it's those more active on older branches 
that are now agreeing to this).

We're also acknowledging that this is attracting new contributors, which may be 
a net-win for us.