[VOTE] 4.3.0 RC0

Hello Kafka users, developers and client-developers, This is the first candidate for release of Apache Kafka 4.3.0. This release includes 25 KIPs bringing improvements to all components. Note that we still have 1 blocker (KAFKA-20441) so there will be another RC. Release notes for the 4.3.0 release: https://dist.apache.org/repos/dist/dev/kafka/4.3.0-rc0/RELEASE_NOTES.html Please download, test and vote by May 4, 5pm CEST Kafka's KEYS file containing PGP keys we use to sign the release: https://downloads.apache.org/kafka/KEYS * Release artifacts to be voted upon (source and binary): https://dist.apache.org/repos/dist/dev/kafka/4.3.0-rc0/ * Docker release artifacts to be voted upon: apache/kafka:4.3.0-rc0 apache/kafka-native:4.3.0-rc0 * 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/4.3.0-rc0/javadoc/index.html * Tag to be voted upon (off 4.3 branch) is the 4.3.0 tag: https://github.com/apache/kafka/releases/tag/4.3.0-rc0 * Documentation: PR: https://github.com/apache/kafka-site/pull/853 * Protocol: PR: https://github.com/apache/kafka-site/pull/853 * Successful CI builds for the 4.3 branch: Unit/integration tests: https://github.com/apache/kafka/actions/runs/25053481746 (still running) System tests: Tests are still running. I'll send an update once they complete * Successful Docker Image Github Actions Pipeline for 4.3 branch: Docker Build Test Pipeline (JVM): https://github.com/apache/kafka/actions/runs/25047898141 Docker Build Test Pipeline (Native): https://github.com/apache/kafka/actions/runs/25047912135 Thanks, Mickael