Backport fix for BZ #18928?

[Carlos O'Donell]

On 12/17/2015 12:02 PM, Joseph Myers wrote:
> I think bumping the version number to 2.22.2 should imply making a 2.22.1 
> release (which means updating the release checklist to make clear which 
> bits apply to point releases, e.g. tagging and release tarballs and 
> announcements, and which don't, e.g. branching - and probably also a 
> variant of the release announcement that makes clear this is a point 
> release with just a few bug fixes, not a major new release).
 
Would you be opposed to having the VERSION bump on a released branch
contain no work required by the committer?

I would like to avoid any work done because of the VERSION bump other
than to create a point at which the version changes to faciliate
discussion and documentation.

The reason I think nothing needs to be done, a rolling release, is that
the only real consumers of the stable branches are distributions with
their own proceses.

So while for master it is important for us to branch, and create tarballs,
and follow the normal developer process we expect. That cost is in my opinion
too high right now for the stable branches which we are trying to keep active
and used by distributions.

Does that make sense?

If it does, I'll update the release documentation accordingly to finally
describe what I would like to see in terms of rolling releases for stable
branches.

Cheers,
Carlos.