Remember, for many people, but not for many moderns, CVS provides the
`released version' of GNU Emacs. It is the prime version used by
those who contribute. It is not a binary that cannot be changed.
Once in a while, development needs to be frozen while bugs are fixed.
Since more and more people are coming to think of or are forced to use
big numbered releases and eschew the daily releases, they view a delay
between one big numbered release and another as bad. But those who
enjoy daily releases hardly notice.