Releases are prepared in separate branches, starting from next.jun22.
Once a release gets ready, it is merged to master and another next.{monYY} branch.
There may be two next.{monYY} branches under work, at one time (e.g. at the time of writing, next.jun22 and next.sep22).
Naturally, one can also have feature branches (fea.{...}) that get merged to the next branches, for testing and release
This all depends on how many people are developing the repo. These policies are for adjusting, but should help newcomers fit in.
The aim is:
masteralways is healthy, and presents a stable release
Bugfixes can be backported also to the former next branch (and through there, to master), if this seems feasible.