Xen 4.21 release schedule proposal

[Oleksii Kurochko <oleksii.kurochko@xxxxxxxxx>]

Hello everyone,

Following the 8-month release cycle, also taking into account that 4.20
has been released 5 March 2025 and the next "good" month for release should
be November according to:
https://lists.xen.org/archives/html/xen-devel/2018-07/msg02240.html

Here is suggested schedule:

** Proposed option: Wed Nov 12, 2025 **
 (~ +8 months from Xen 4.20 release)

- Last posting date          Fri Aug 08, 2025 (+15 weeks from now)

Patches adding new features are expected to be posted to the mailing
list by this date, although perhaps not in their final version.

- Feature freeze             Fri Aug 29, 2025 (+3 weeks from Last posting date)

Patches adding new features should be committed by this date.
Straightforward bugfixes may continue to be accepted by maintainers.

- Code freeze                Fri Sep 26, 2025 (+4 weeks from Feature freeze)

Bugfixes only.

- Hard code freeze           Fri Oct 24, 2025 (+3 weeks from Code freeze)

Bugfixes for serious bugs (including regressions), and low-risk fixes only.

- Final commits              Fri Nov 07, 2025 (+2 weeks from Hard code freeze)

Branch off staging-4.20.

- Release                    Wed Nov 12, 2025


Please don't hesitate to provide your feedback.

If there are no objections, I plan to update the Wiki page
Xen_Project_X.YY_Release_Notes to make it easier to find our final schedule
( especially for the people who aren't following xen-devel mailing list ).
As an additional benefit, it will also be accessible via SUPPORT.md (in the
wiki at https://xenbits.xen.org/docs/unstable-staging/support-matrix.html).

Thanks and have a good week.

Best regards,
 Oleksii