[VOTE] 3.9.1 RC0

Hello Kafka users, developers, and client-developers,

This is the first candidate for the release of Apache Kafka 3.9.1.

This is a bug-fix release with several fixes, and most importantly, it adds
Java 23 support for 3.9

Release notes for the 3.9.1 release:
https://dist.apache.org/repos/dist/dev/kafka/3.9.1-rc0/RELEASE_NOTES.html

Please download, test, and vote by *Wednesday, April 23, 9:00 AM 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/3.9.1-rc0/

* Docker release artifacts to be voted upon:
apache/kafka:3.9.1-rc0
https://hub.docker.com/layers/apache/kafka/3.9.1-rc0/images/sha256-3f7d1298c0ff2cdfac2a65e36c2515ca9288d89c64e071300008bc61843b648e
apache/kafka-native:3.9.1-rc0
https://hub.docker.com/layers/apache/kafka-native/3.9.1-rc0/images/sha256-2a7f7f178d862b7f0b41b007732edb1c5882f2f6062c47dda48f90a10e1bd6fa

* 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/3.9.1-rc0/javadoc/

* Tag to be voted upon (off 3.9 branch) is the 3.9.1 tag:
https://github.com/apache/kafka/releases/tag/3.9.1-rc0

* Documentation:
https://kafka.apache.org/39/documentation.html

* Protocol:
https://kafka.apache.org/39/protocol.html

*CI builds for the 3.9 branch:
Unit/integration tests (There are some flaky tests):
https://ci-builds.apache.org/job/Kafka/job/kafka/job/3.9/191/

System tests: In progress. Will provide it once it is finished.

* Successful Docker Image Github Actions Pipeline for 3.9 branch:
Docker Build Test Pipeline (JVM):
https://github.com/apache/kafka/actions/runs/14485509197
Docker Build Test Pipeline (Native):
https://github.com/apache/kafka/actions/runs/14485512365


Thanks,
TengYao Chi