Horde Release Cycle
This is an explanation of the Horde release model and the project's release rules.
- We will stick to <a href="http://semver.org/">semantic versioning</a>, this means:
    - APIs* keep backward compatible within the same major versions. If we have to break backward compatibility, Horde 4 becomes Horde 5 etc.
    - Adding features or extending APIs will bump the minor version, Horde 4.0 becomes Horde 4.1 etc.
- New versions will be released every half a year. Whether these are going to be major or minor version releases (or even just bug fix releases) depends on whether the changes since the last release broke BC or not.
    - Intermediate releases can be be done for security fixes or bug fixes.
- We will have sychronized releases of all application and framework components. If it's going to be a minor version release, only the modules that actually had any changes will be released. For major versions, all modules will be relased.
- Breaking backward compatibility will be documented, so that custom applications can be updated easily. See <a href="https://wiki.horde.org/Doc/Dev/ConversionH4">Doc/Dev/ConversionH4</a> and <a href="https://wiki.horde.org/Doc/Dev/ConversionH5">Doc/Dev/ConversionH5</a>for an example.
- The most recent two major versions will be maintained with security fixes, i.e. for at least 12 months.
*APIs in this context mean PHP APIs of framework components, external PHP APIs of applications, and external Horde RPC APIs.
See also <a href="https://wiki.horde.org/Doc/Dev/Branches">Doc/Dev/Branches</a> for an explanation of the branches used to prepare releases.