Merge pull request #1861 from gsmet/next-lts-plans

Announce plans for the next LTS

_posts/2023-12-19-our-plans-for-quarkus-3-7-3-8-3-9-released.adoc

@@ -0,0 +1,72 @@
+---
+layout: post
+title: 'Release Plans for Quarkus 3.7, 3.8 and 3.9'
+date: 2023-12-19
+tags: release
+synopsis: 'As some of you asked what were our plans regarding the next LTS, this blog post presents our plans for Quarkus 3.7, 3.8 and 3.9.'
+author: gsmet
+---
+
+Quarkus 3.2 was the first LTS (Long Term Support) release of Quarkus,
+and we learned a lot from it.
+
+Choosing which version will be an LTS version is crucial,
+as people expect predictability and stability from the LTS versions.
+
+Thus why we came up with a plan for our next minor releases,
+including the next LTS version.
+
+== Quarkus 3.7
+
+Quarkus 3.7 will be released on January 31th.
+It will contain new features, as usual for our minor releases.
+
+As previously announced, the minimum Java version for Quarkus 3.7 will be Java 17.
+
+The CR1 is planned for January 17th so all the new features need to be merged by then.
+
+See our https://github.com/quarkusio/quarkus/wiki/Release-Planning[release schedule] for all the details.
+
+There will be a slight change though: from January 17th and the build of `3.7.0.CR1`, our `main` branch will target 3.9 development
+(yes, you read it correctly, it will target 3.9).
+
+== Quarkus 3.8
+
+You might ask "where has Quarkus 3.8 gone?".
+Thanks for asking!
+
+Quarkus 3.8 will be our next LTS version.
+It will be released at the end of February
+(our current plan is to release it on February 28th, but things might be refined as we approach the release date).
+
+This release will be the continuation of the 3.7 cycle and will be started from the `3.7` branch.
+The focus will be on hardening 3.7 and fixing bugs.
+It won't contain any new features.
+It might contain some additional component upgrades to fix CVEs or important bugs.
+
+**Consequently, and this is important:
+if you contribute to Quarkus or the Quarkus Platform and need a feature in the next Quarkus LTS,
+make sure it has been merged in the https://github.com/quarkusio/quarkus[Quarkus repository] before January 16th included
+(the day before the `3.7.0.CR1` release).**
+
+== Quarkus 3.9
+
+Quarkus 3.9 will be released at the end of March.
+
+It will be packed with new features as it will contain 2 months of work,
+whereas our usual minors contain 1 month of work.
+
+== Questions?
+
+If you have any questions about this plan, feel free to ask in the comments of this blog post or on https://github.com/quarkusio/quarkus/discussions/categories/community[GitHub Discussions].
+
+== Come Join Us
+
+We value your feedback a lot so please report bugs, ask for improvements... Let's build something great together!
+
+If you are a Quarkus user or just curious, don't be shy and join our welcoming community:
+
+ * provide feedback on https://github.com/quarkusio/quarkus/issues[GitHub];
+ * craft some code and https://github.com/quarkusio/quarkus/pulls[push a PR];
+ * discuss with us on https://quarkusio.zulipchat.com/[Zulip] and on the https://groups.google.com/d/forum/quarkus-dev[mailing list];
+ * ask your questions on https://stackoverflow.com/questions/tagged/quarkus[Stack Overflow].