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Candidate quality election follows a different pattern. A release is cut and announced as a release candidate. It is then VOTE'd to alpha, beta and full release quantity. Each stage is announced widely and users are encouraged to report any problems. If any issues emerge that must be addressed, a new release is created and the cycle starts again. Developers are recommended to VOTE +1 only if they have tested the release themselves.
The (idealized) process is as follows:
- cut release
- announce release candidate
- promotion to alpha VOTE
- announce alpha release
- promotion to beta VOTE
- announce beta release
- promotion to full release VOTE
The actual release does not change, only the designation and name of the distributions.