Merge branch 'release-1.4.4'
Merge branch 'release-1.4.5'
Merge branch 'release-1.4.6'
Merge branch 'release-1.4.7'
Merge branch 'release-1.4.8'
Merge branch 'release-1.5'
Merge branch 'release-1.5.1'
Merge branch 'release-1.5.2'
Merge branch 'release-1.5.3'
Merge branch 'release-1.5.4'
Merge branch 'release-1.6'
Merge branch 'release-1.6.1'
Merge branch 'release-1.7'
Added remaining a,b,r tests
fixed bumping from a to b, and b to rc not incrementing minor
created test_version_severity()
Version bumped from  1.7 to 1.7.1
Merge branch 'hotfix-1.7.1'