I'm confused.. How is it that people don't understand that as soon as a release it out the door.. It's then time to merge libraries from trunk to release until the "release branch is closed" announcement goes out. Why is it that people want to wait until right before the release is close to do the merges?
Because it's never the right time to merge - there's always "one more little thing" to fix, regression tests being waited on etc etc. If you know when the release branch is going to close *in advance*, then you can plan which fixes are likely to make it, and which won't. On the other hand if there's no sign of the release branch being closed, the temptation to "keep fiddling on trunk" is just too strong. Human nature and all that ;-) So while I understand the reason for the rush, I too would like to see a clear schedule published in advance... Just my 2c yours... John.