…and will be for the rest of forever. The hard code freeze is lifted with the .0 release, but API/ABI, feature, UI, and string freezes remain in effect.
It appears we (the release-team) have failed to communicate that any API/ABI, feature, UI, or string change or addition for the stable branch needs to be approved. I’ve been surprised multiple times in the past (most recently today) that there are developers who do not know that most freezes remain in effect after the .0 release goes out the door. This includes some pretty core hackers. Does anyone have suggestions on how we can make sure to get the word out better? (We’ve mentioned this fact on the 2.17 schedule next to the 2.18.0 release, on the new live.gnome.org/Schedule (which in general is the fastest way to get a reminder of which freezes are active during any cycle), and we have sent reminders in the past to devel-announce-list.)