In the curl project we do releases every 8 weeks. Unless we break the cycle and do an early patch release.
We do frequent releases partly to always have the next release "not too far away".
During the release cycle, and especially in the beginning of a new cycle, there are times when a bug is reported and after it has been subsequently fixed correctly, the discussion might be brought up: is this bug and associated fix important enough for an early patch release.
The question can only be properly asked once a fix has been created and landed in the git master branch.
An early patch release means that we ship a new, complete and full release
called major.minor.patch
where the patch
part is increased by one since
the previous release. A curl release is a curl release. There is no small or
big and we never release just a patch. There is only "release".
If the answer is yes to one or more of the above, an early release might indeed be warranted.
More questions to ask ourselves when doing the assessment if the answers to the three ones above are all 'no'.
Unless done for security or similarly important reasons, an early release should never be done within two weeks of the release of the previous version.
This, to enable us to collect and bundle more fixes into the same release to make the release more worthwhile for everyone and to allow more time for fixes to settle and things to get tested. Getting a release in shape and done in style is work that should not be rushed.