PostgreSQL 9.6 Feature Freeze - April 8, 2016

At the recent PostgreSQL developer meeting in Brussels, a consensus
was reached that an early beta, leading to an on-time release, would
be very desirable. In particular, it was suggested that we should
attempt to release PostgreSQL 9.6beta1 in May. The release management
team has determined that this will require a feature freeze in early
April. Accordingly, the release management has decided that all
feature patches destined for PostgreSQL 9.6 must be committed no later
than April 8, 2016. Any patch not committed prior to 2016-04-09
00:00:00 GMT may not be committed to PostgreSQL 9.6 unless (a) it is a
bug fix, (b) it represents essential cleanup of a previously-committed
patch, or (c) the release management team has approved an extension to
the deadline for that particular patch.

As of the time when feature freeze goes into effect, all patches
remaining in the CommitFest will be either moved to the next
CommitFest, if they are as of that time in a state of Needs Review or
Ready for Committer; or marked as Returned with Feedback, if they are
in a state of Waiting on Author. The release management team
encourages patch authors and reviewers, the CommitFest manager (David
Steele), and all other community members to keep the status of each
patch in the CommitFest accurate throughout the CommitFest, and
particularly as the feature freeze deadline approaches.

The release management team anticipates approving exceptions to the
feature freeze deadline only if the following criteria are met: (1)
the extension is requested by a committer who actually intends to
commit the patch before the extension lapses; (2) the release
management team believes that the patch has sufficient consensus to
proceed with it; (3) the release management team believes that
accepting the patch will not destabilize the tree or otherwise
compromise the PostgreSQL community's ability to get a beta out the
door on schedule; and (4) the proposed extension does not extend
beyond April 15, 2016.

--
Robert Haas
PostgreSQL 9.6 Release Management Team