[infinispan-dev] API stability policy for major vs minor vs patch releases

In my course of upgrading AS6 from 4.2.0.Final to 4.2.1.CR3, I came across a NoSuchMethodError. Specifically, a couple AS components utilize DistributionManager.isLocal(String), which was dropped from the public API sometime after 4.2.1.CR1. While the fix is trivial enough (in the end I'll need to perform several component release to compensate), this raises the larger issue of a API stability policy for major vs minor vs patch releases. At the very least, I don't think its wise to remove methods from a public interface in a patch release. In my opinion, removing methods from a public API should only happen across major releases, and even then, only after being formally deprecated. Thoughts? Paul