Its simple

Release a development version (thats with a _ 01 in version number)

warn in the docs what the change is gonna be, fix what needs fixing

Wait for complaints (ex 1week or 1month)

Then in a week or month release the next stable version and you're done

Then wait the next ten years for complaints from regular fools who dont read docs or have test suits .... ;) It really is that simple ;)

For one example you can see about CGI changes since 4.03 2014-07-02

4.05 (LEEJO on 2014-10-08)
4.04_05 DEV (LEEJO on 2014-10-06)
4.04_04 DEV (LEEJO on 2014-10-06)
4.04_03 DEV (LEEJO on 2014-09-29)
4.04_02 DEV (LEEJO on 2014-09-28)
4.04_01 DEV (LEEJO on 2014-09-20)
4.04 (LEEJO on 2014-09-04)
[download]

LEEJO gets commit bit and sets about gutting ye olde tool bucketbagbox ...