Two questions regarding the :core workflow

[J.P.]

Hi Stefan,

When you've got a sec.

 1. I'm thinking ERC could benefit from suffixing our future version
    numbers on HEAD with "snapshot" or "-git" [1]. This might be helpful
    for things like bug reports, protocol transcripts, and certain
    in-band messages, such as /CTCP VERSION replies. Trying this out
    locally seems to succeed in only building a devel package and
    skipping a release. Any reason the same wouldn't happen on the
    production instance?

 2. I've been wondering about the :core workflow when it comes to
    patching ERC releases and iterating on HEAD. I see that "external"
    packages can specify a separate :release-branch. Assuming such a
    thing isn't possible for :core packages, ERC would seem to enter a
    sort of "limbo period" come every (Emacs) release season, during
    which we're obliged to hold off on applying major changes to HEAD
    until the next release, like 29.1, has been out long enough for any
    glaring bugs to emerge. To be clear, this isn't me complaining (ERC
    has plenty else to concern itself with during such spells). But, in
    the interest of planning ahead, I'd like to know if this perceived
    limbo period is a real thing or yet another unfounded hallucination.

Thanks,
J.P.

[1] https://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/emacs-devel/2023-02/msg00143.html