DuckDB 1.4.4 release notes

This is a bug fix release for various issues discovered after we released 1.4.3. Please excuse the erroneous release earlier.

What's Changed

Cast Fix: Correctly handle negative exponent with a number with a decimal in VARCHAR -> INTEGER cast by @Mytherin in https://github.com/duckdb/duckdb/pull/20098
[Storage] Fix NULL filter check for constant segments by @Tishj in https://github.com/duckdb/duckdb/pull/20103
fixing staged upload for install.duckdb.org - hopefully by @hannes in https://github.com/duckdb/duckdb/pull/20104
Remove undefined loop by @artjomPlaunov in https://github.com/duckdb/duckdb/pull/20105
[Test] Adjust concurrent attach-detach test to expect write-write conflict by @taniabogatsch in https://github.com/duckdb/duckdb/pull/20108
Fix ALIAS function in filter pushdown to preserve column aliases(#20008) by @henry8128 in https://github.com/duckdb/duckdb/pull/20106
Headers missing from http logs by @samansmink in https://github.com/duckdb/duckdb/pull/20030
Bumping httpfs to include https://github.com/duckdb/duckdb-httpfs/pull/174 by @carlopi in https://github.com/duckdb/duckdb/pull/20145
Issue #20136: Secondary IGNORE NULLS by @hawkfish in https://github.com/duckdb/duckdb/pull/20153
Fix minio nightly tests by @c-herrewijn in https://github.com/duckdb/duckdb/pull/20132
Fix use-after-free in mode aggregate Combine function by @victor-ab in https://github.com/duckdb/duckdb/pull/20146
Only pushdown varchar if the arrow type is not a string view by @evertlammerts in https://github.com/duckdb/duckdb/pull/20165
Quote filters in adbc_get_objects by @evertlammerts in https://github.com/duckdb/duckdb/pull/20172
Issue #20156: Streaming Window Unions by @hawkfish in https://github.com/duckdb/duckdb/pull/20191
MergeInto: correctly clean-up buffer and handle non trivial GetData by @carlopi in https://github.com/duckdb/duckdb/pull/20163
Fix extentension-ci-tools to latest release version in the v1.4-andium branch by @carlopi in https://github.com/duckdb/duckdb/pull/20227
[Chore] Clean up CI nightly run to prevent time outs by @taniabogatsch in https://github.com/duckdb/duckdb/pull/20150
Bump Julia to v1.4.3 by @maiadegraaf in https://github.com/duckdb/duckdb/pull/20248
Internal #6881: 2025c Time Zones by @hawkfish in https://github.com/duckdb/duckdb/pull/20258
Split statements by semicolon by @Dtenwolde in https://github.com/duckdb/duckdb/pull/20174
[chore] Remove numeric_cast.hpp import and other tidy stuff by @taniabogatsch in https://github.com/duckdb/duckdb/pull/20278
[chore] Reduce latency of VARCHAR index creation test by @taniabogatsch in https://github.com/duckdb/duckdb/pull/20277
Reuse correct table-level metadata during checkpoints by @ywelsch in https://github.com/duckdb/duckdb/pull/20267
Fix view resolution not being stable if the referenced table lives in a different schema by @Tishj in https://github.com/duckdb/duckdb/pull/20260
ConstantOrNullFunction input validity mask overwrite bugfix by @artjomPlaunov in https://github.com/duckdb/duckdb/pull/20283
dbgen: use TaskExecutor framework by @Mytherin in https://github.com/duckdb/duckdb/pull/20284
fix(adbc): return error when setting an empty sql query by @gishor in https://github.com/duckdb/duckdb/pull/20071
Bump iceberg, and add wasm platforms! by @carlopi in https://github.com/duckdb/duckdb/pull/20205
_extension_distribution: Pin to v1.4-andium branch of extension-ci-tools by @carlopi in https://github.com/duckdb/duckdb/pull/20294
Optimize prepared statement parameter lookups by @EtgarDev in https://github.com/duckdb/duckdb/pull/20252
Update VectorType in ComputePartitionIndices by @lnkuiper in https://github.com/duckdb/duckdb/pull/20343
Add some defensive programming in RadixPartitionedHashTable::Combine and RadixPartitionedHashTable::Finalize by @lnkuiper in https://github.com/duckdb/duckdb/pull/20342
Increase reserved size for paths in SetPathsInternal by @Flogex in https://github.com/duckdb/duckdb/pull/20340
Use UTF-16 console output in Windows shell (1.4) by @staticlibs in https://github.com/duckdb/duckdb/pull/20339
Force repartitioning in RadixPartitionedHashTable::Combine by @lnkuiper in https://github.com/duckdb/duckdb/pull/20357
Fixup comparison to wrong iterator on abdc's driver by @carlopi in https://github.com/duckdb/duckdb/pull/20360
[chore] dsdgen generation signed integer overflow fix by @taniabogatsch in https://github.com/duckdb/duckdb/pull/20279
Give preference do variables set in config by @pdet in https://github.com/duckdb/duckdb/pull/20396
Add QueryContext also to Write(void *buffer, idx_t nr_bytes), so that BytesWritten are updated also there by @carlopi in https://github.com/duckdb/duckdb/pull/20393
Fix Issue #20233: fix function chain in qualify by @ArNine in https://github.com/duckdb/duckdb/pull/20302
Backport client data cleanup by @taniabogatsch in https://github.com/duckdb/duckdb/pull/20403
Add v1.4.4 to Storage Version by @maiadegraaf in https://github.com/duckdb/duckdb/pull/20404
Parquet Reader: Ignore invalid UTF8 in string stats, instead of throwing an error by @Mytherin in https://github.com/duckdb/duckdb/pull/20405
Don't add a semicolon to final query when splitting statements by @Dtenwolde in https://github.com/duckdb/duckdb/pull/20401
Fixup BRANCHES_TO_BE_CACHED, vars are not available on PRs, so env it is by @carlopi in https://github.com/duckdb/duckdb/pull/20411
[Fix] Defensive infinite loop guard and UTF-8 check in C API by @taniabogatsch in https://github.com/duckdb/duckdb/pull/20348
Add ducklake, httpfs and iceberg tests so they are run in CI by @carlopi in https://github.com/duckdb/duckdb/pull/20319
[Stats] date_trunc stat propagation fix by @Tishj in https://github.com/duckdb/duckdb/pull/20421
Refactor allowed path sanitize by @hannes in https://github.com/duckdb/duckdb/pull/20346
Issue #20413: ASOF SEMI/ANTI Bindings by @hawkfish in https://github.com/duckdb/duckdb/pull/20433
Fix #20410: fix for RIGHT SEMI/ANTI - cannot fully label chain as found if there are non-equality predicates present in the join condition by @Mytherin in https://github.com/duckdb/duckdb/pull/20435
[Fix] Misaligned size in ART prefix count by @taniabogatsch in https://github.com/duckdb/duckdb/pull/20455
Wrap ccache in own action by @carlopi in https://github.com/duckdb/duckdb/pull/20466
[Chore] Add ORDER BY to AS OF test by @taniabogatsch in https://github.com/duckdb/duckdb/pull/20465
Fix segfault in hive partitioning with NULL values by @Schwarf in https://github.com/duckdb/duckdb/pull/20468
Nightly test encryption fixes by @ccfelius in https://github.com/duckdb/duckdb/pull/20461
[C API] Fix error data creation by @taniabogatsch in https://github.com/duckdb/duckdb/pull/20451
Skip concurrent_encrypted_attach due to race in autoloading httpfs by @carlopi in https://github.com/duckdb/duckdb/pull/20471
CI fixup: Comparisons needs to be done via strings (since input via workflow_call is a string) by @carlopi in https://github.com/duckdb/duckdb/pull/20464
Add unity_catalog to extensions built by duckdb/duckdb by @carlopi in https://github.com/duckdb/duckdb/pull/20445
Invert the setup of ccache and cleanup_runner by @carlopi in https://github.com/duckdb/duckdb/pull/20429
bump spatial for andium by @Maxxen in https://github.com/duckdb/duckdb/pull/20479
Reclaim disk space on MacOS runners by @lnkuiper in https://github.com/duckdb/duckdb/pull/20493
Adding secure clear functions by @ccfelius in https://github.com/duckdb/duckdb/pull/20285
rewrite unaligned scan by @artjomPlaunov in https://github.com/duckdb/duckdb/pull/20474
Issue #20470: TIMESTAMPTZ to DATE by @hawkfish in https://github.com/duckdb/duckdb/pull/20498
Reset cached dictionaries in TRY expression by @Maxxen in https://github.com/duckdb/duckdb/pull/20452
[Copy] Fix #20324 partition_by option binding by @Tishj in https://github.com/duckdb/duckdb/pull/20509
Bump multiple extensions by @maiadegraaf in https://github.com/duckdb/duckdb/pull/20504
update azure ref for v1.4-andium by @benfleis in https://github.com/duckdb/duckdb/pull/20506
[Fix] Directly retrieve the logical column index during MERGE INTO binding by @taniabogatsch in https://github.com/duckdb/duckdb/pull/20503
Sanitize pragmas by @samansmink in https://github.com/duckdb/duckdb/pull/20514
Bump httpfs, ducklake and postgres by @carlopi in https://github.com/duckdb/duckdb/pull/20518
Revert vortex bump for v1.4.4 by @taniabogatsch in https://github.com/duckdb/duckdb/pull/20527
Bump VSS by @taniabogatsch in https://github.com/duckdb/duckdb/pull/20542
Bump Excel by @maiadegraaf in https://github.com/duckdb/duckdb/pull/20540
Fix Issue #20233: Fix function chain in having and merge to v1.4 by @ArNine in https://github.com/duckdb/duckdb/pull/20532
bump iceberg by @Tmonster in https://github.com/duckdb/duckdb/pull/20549
Bump Iceberg v1.4 by @Tmonster in https://github.com/duckdb/duckdb/pull/20604
Fix KeyValueSecretReader init by @NiclasHaderer in https://github.com/duckdb/duckdb/pull/20620
Fail fast extensions by @carlopi in https://github.com/duckdb/duckdb/pull/20605

Full Changelog: https://github.com/duckdb/duckdb/compare/v1.4.3...v1.4.4