Time-based releases and love

I believe in time-based releases. I believe in frequent releases. I believe in a trunk branch that is always ready to be a release candidate. Many Free Software developers share my beliefs. For a long time I haven’t questioned it. It’s obviously good to release regularly and often.

“It is hard to argue that bzr isn’t in a state of flux when a new stable version is available once a month.” - Jason Earl, Bazaar mailing list.

Now I think I have to begin asking questions.

Is it possible that time-based releases actually create negative impressions of software? Should regular releasers slow down their cadence? How should compatibility watersheds (format, API, whatever) affect a release cycle? What would Bazaar’s format reputation be like if they released every six months instead of every month?