Except with explicit permission by a release manager. Do whatever you want on develop, just don't change master. We'll re-open master after the beta. As always, check the calendar at https://www.boost.org/development 6-Mar: Boost 1.70.0 closed for all changes 13-Mar: Boost 1.70.0 beta; master branch re-opened 2-Aug: Release closed for all changes, except by permission of a release manager. 3-Apr: Boost 1.70.0 closed for all changes 10-Apr: Boost 1.70.0 release -- The release managers