Why do release candidates keep getting new features?

[amac]

I'm still a 5.1 user who is happy with a very stable version of the product. I got off the beta train because I had stability and most of the features I wanted. Sometime I look into the forums to see if it's time to upgrade. There are some feature's I'd like, but I'm not ready to trade stability for the few features I might want. Obviously everyone has a different perspective on this.

My point tonight is that when I do finally choose to upgrade, I want the confidence that the product is stable. As has been discussed many times before, Sage seems to be in perpetual beta with the odd RC thrown in to boot.

Can someone explain the difference (without being glib) on how Sage's beta releases are really different to their release candidates? It seems strange to me that in version 6.1.RC6, there are still new features being added. Release candidates (in most software shops that I've worked in), are meant to shake the bugs out of a product whose features have been frozen.

However, the release notes for the latest RC look like a typical beta release. A few bug fixes here and a few more feature creeps there. Not something that inspires confidence for me to look at upgrading.

[GKusnick]

What new features are you referring to? Looking through the notes, almost everything I see from 6.1.2 on is either clearly labeled as a bug fix or performance fix, or extends support for existing features to new devices and file formats. There are a few new API functions to help fix bugs in the STV or in third-party STVIs, but I don't count those as new features.

There are a number of new features listed under 6.1.1, but that's exactly where you should expect to see new features listed. Maybe it was premature to give 6.1.1 the RC designation, since clearly it wasn't ready for release. But personally I don't care all that much whether they call it RC or not. If it's in the Beta area, I test it and report any bugs I find. I don't treat it any differently just because it says RC.