[VOTE] 4.2.1 RC5

[PoAn Yang]

Hello Kafka users, developers and client-developers,

This is the third candidate for release of Apache Kafka 4.2.1.

This is the first bug fix release for Apache Kafka 4.2 with fixes as described in the release notes. In the third candidate, it adds KAFKA-20572.

Release notes for the 4.2.1 release:
https://dist.apache.org/repos/dist/dev/kafka/4.2.1-rc5/RELEASE_NOTES.html

Please download, test and vote by Thursday, May 20, 9pm PT.

Kafka's KEYS file containing PGP keys we use to sign the release:
https://kafka.apache.org/KEYS

* Release artifacts to be voted upon (source and binary):
https://dist.apache.org/repos/dist/dev/kafka/4.2.1-rc5/

* Docker release artifacts to be voted upon:
apache/kafka:4.2.1-rc5
apache/kafka-native:4.2.1-rc5

* Maven artifacts to be voted upon:
https://repository.apache.org/content/groups/staging/org/apache/kafka/

* Javadoc:
https://dist.apache.org/repos/dist/dev/kafka/4.2.1-rc5/javadoc/index.html

* Tag to be voted upon (off 4.2 branch) is the 4.2.1 tag:
https://github.com/apache/kafka/releases/tag/4.2.1-rc5

* Documentation:
https://kafka.apache.org/42/documentation.html

* Protocol:
https://kafka.apache.org/42/design/protocol/

* Successful CI builds for the 4.2 branch:
Unit/integration tests: https://github.com/apache/kafka/actions/runs/25801189532
System tests: https://jenkins.opensource4you.tw/job/kafka-e2e/756/, https://jenkins.opensource4you.tw/job/kafka-e2e/757/, https://jenkins.opensource4you.tw/job/kafka-e2e/758/

* Successful Docker Image Github Actions Pipeline for 4.2 branch:
Docker Build Test Pipeline (JVM): https://github.com/apache/kafka/actions/runs/25800098270
Docker Build Test Pipeline (Native): https://github.com/apache/kafka/actions/runs/25800112759

Thanks,
PoAn