Branching off last release instead of head?

Referenced Page: 
Branch and tagging conventions

After reading the discussions surrounding branching in the Linux kernel, I have become of the opinion that feature branches should be based off a common point to ease maintenance over time. For example, if I would create a dev branch now, it should be based on beta1. This way I have a known set of bugs and issues that I know are not my fault (for example). It also makes merging with other dev branches easier if they are also based on beta1, as I do not have to merge unrelated changes.

I have documented this practice in this handbook page, although maybe not very clearly. I suggest we use this process from now on, although it is not mandatory...

Any comments on that?