Squid 2.1.PATCH2 forgetting parents due to reconfigure signal

I just installed Squid 2.1.PATCH2 and started testing it, and wasted quite a
lot of time trying to find what I'd got wrong with the configuration, when
after making a number of changes to the configuration (it appeared to have
been working initially) I found it had started fetching everything direct
(or sometimes with a small proportion fetched via a parent that supported
cache digests).

After giving up on the test and switching the users back to Squid 1, I went
looking (in accumulated unread squid-users mail) for an explanation and
found a problem report and confirmation from others, dating back to the end
of January. The problem was not what I'd put in the configuration file, just
that I'd sent the server a reconfigure signal (repeatedly in fact, as I
changed things), which seems to cause it to forget at least its ICP peers.

I can't find any followups suggesting either that the problem is understood
or that a patch is likely, but I'd be reluctant to use 2.1.PATCH2 live
(rather than for testing over short periods) since the workaround of
restarting the server is (in my view) too disruptive for routine use.
[Reconfiguration is needed relatively often, if only to add new servers to
the list of special cases that must be fetched direct for various reasons.]

Is a patch at all likely, or alternatively is 2.2 (which I see exists in
pre-release form) likely to become the current release in the near future
and include a fix for that problem?

                                John Line

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