>For every image produced there is extra workload for creating the
>configurations and for the testing of those images to ensure they're working
>correctly.
There is always extra workload because people will always want extra, that can't be helped.
People are making suggestions so that the live images, and the software that produces those images, are useful to a wide variety of users.
>One option I would be happy to explore for stretch would be to include the
>kernel from stable-backports in the stable images alongside the stable
>kernel, and you can choose to use the newer kernel from the boot menu if you
>wish, although this will need discussion as it would mean adding the
>stable-backports repository to the stable images and we would need to be
>sure that this wouldn't have any negative effects.
May I suggest you let the users decide? Produce two images 1 being completely stable and the other being stable+backports and let the users choose what they want to download. This would fit in very well with Debian being "the universal operating system".