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===========================
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Using Bazaar with Launchpad
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===========================
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Communities are different to teams
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----------------------------------
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The team of people required to create the initial release
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of a piece of software may vary in size from one person
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to several thousand people. Depending on the requirements,
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the challenges involved, both technical and managerial,
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can be immense. As explained in the Bazaar User Guide, selecting
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"just right" processes and using tools like Bazaar to support
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matching workflows can greatly help.
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Success with software though requires more than a great team - it
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requires a healthy, active *community*. This group is typically
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far larger than the team as it includes everyone interested in
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the software: the team, users, training partners, support partners,
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third-party developers and so on.
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Great communities are well understood in the open source world.
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Their applicability extends well beyond that though: most
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successful commercial software vendors are well skilled at
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building and managing the communities that grow up around
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their flagship products.
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Like great teams, great communities don't just happen.
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Good policies and guidelines are essential for
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fostering the right sort of behaviour and healthy
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relationships between participants. For a deeper look at
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this topic, see Karl Fogel's landmark book:
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`Producing Open Source Software <http://www.producingoss.com/>`_.
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The need for Collaborative Development Environments
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---------------------------------------------------
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An intelligent toolset is also important for tracking and managing
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community information and workflows. These tools are called
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Collaborative Development Environments (CDEs). These toolsets are
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typically web-based and manage things such as announcements,
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issues/bugs, questions and answers, downloads, documents and
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source code. Some examples of CDEs include
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`Launchpad <https://launchpad.net>`_,
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`SourceForge <http://sourceforge.net>`_,
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`java.net <http://java.net>`_ and
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`SAP Community Network <https://www.sdn.sap.com/irj/sdn>`_.
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Helping communities work with related communities
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-------------------------------------------------
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Many successful products have a huge number of downstream dependencies.
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In other words, a new challenge arises with success: dealing with other
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communities and understanding how your changes will impact them. This is
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most obvious for projects like:
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* software languages, e.g. Python, PHP, Ruby, Java, Perl, etc.
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* compilers, e.g. gcc, JDK, etc.
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* libraries, e.g. zlib, openssl, etc.
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* frameworks, e.g. Zope, Ruby on Rails, Spring, etc.
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However it applies equally for popular applications on which add-ons are
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built, e.g. Firefox, Thunderbird, OpenOffice.org, Drupal, Wordpress, Joomla,
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Tools that assist communities work together to track and manage
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issues and fixes across community boundaries are required. These
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tools help people at both ends of the spectrum:
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* users can report problems in their terms, e.g. rendering of image
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type X is broken in application Y on operating system Z
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* developers can better appreciate the downstream impact of making a
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change or fix, e.g. fixing this bug in a graphics library will
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make the users of these 5 applications on these 10 operating
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People in the middle play the essential role of *joining the dots* and
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communicating up and down the line. In many cases, they may also fix the
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problem for end users, releasing a patch and pushing a suggested fix
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to the upstream development team. Keeping track of all that over time
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in a sustainable way is no easy task.
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Launchpad: More development, less friction
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------------------------------------------
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As well as sponsoring `Ubuntu <http://www.ubuntu.com>`_ and
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`Bazaar <http://bazaar-vcs.org>`_ development, Canonical
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provides Launchpad, https://launchpad.net, as a free service
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for the open source community. Launchpad is one of the most
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exciting CDEs around for several notable reasons:
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* it models relationships between many of things tracked, e.g.
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source code branches can be associated with bug fixes
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* as well are managing historical knowledge,
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it supports future development planning and tracking by providing
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features such as roadmaps, milestones and blueprints
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* it provides translation tools and packaging services so that
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barriers are reduced for translators and testers wishing to
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join your community and help out
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* it provides a nexus for different communities to work
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together on related issues and roadmaps.
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In other words, Launchpad has been designed to help your
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comunity grow and to reduce the workflow friction both
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*within* your community and *between* communities. Ultimately,
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that means less time on mechanical tasks and more time for
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interesting development.
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Bazaar: Launchpad's VCS client
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------------------------------
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This tutorial looks at how Bazaar and Launchpad can be used together
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and how they complement each other. It is important to remember that:
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1. Bazaar can be used without Launchpad
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2. Launchpad can be used without Bazaar.
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By design though, their sum is greater than the individual
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Finding and browsing branches using Launchpad
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=============================================
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Finding available branches
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--------------------------
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While there are many advantages in adopting distributed version
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control, one of the things that disappears is the all-knowing
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central server with knowledge about all available branches. Indeed
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in a distributed environment, interesting branches can literally
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exist in 100s of locations across the Internet (or within an
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Intranet for that matter).
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Launchpad fills this gap by providing a registry of branches.
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Branches can be uploaded to Launchpad or simply registered
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as being available in an external location. Branches can also
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be given a Status such as *New*, *Development*, *Mature* or
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Note: External branches can even be hosted in legacy version control
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tools, i.e. CVS and Subversion. Code in these systems will be
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scanned and converted to Bazaar branches on a periodic basis.
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For maximum fidelity of course, it is preferable for external
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branches to be hosted in Bazaar.
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Branches can be listed, filtered and sorted by numerous
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attributes including Name, Registrant, Author, Status, Age and
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time of last commit. Browsing of branches is also provided making
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it easy to see things such as:
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* where the branch can be downloaded from
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* how to upload changes
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* recent commits and the changes made by each
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* the source code of individual files for a given version.
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Accessing code in Launchpad using Bazaar
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========================================
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Getting the code for an open source project
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-------------------------------------------
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As Launchpad keeps track of thousands of open source projects
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and their latest code whether it be managed by Bazaar, CVS or Subversion,
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Bazaar users can grab that code as easily as this::
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bzr branch lp:project-name
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where `project-name` is the Launchpad project ID. Here are some examples::
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bzr branch lp:inkscape
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bzr branch lp:java-gnome
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You can then browse the code locally using your favorite editor or IDE and
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change the code if you wish.
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If a project has multiple series registered (e.g. a development series and a
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maintenance series), the latest code for a given series can be fetched using::
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bzr branch lp:project-name/series
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Publishing your changes
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-----------------------
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Having fixed that annoying bug or added that cool feature you've always
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wanted, it's time to impress your friends and make the world a better
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place by making your code available to others. As explained earlier,
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Launchpad is a free Bazaar code hosting service so you can push your
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branch to it and others can access your code from there. For example,
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assuming you are a member of the relevant team, login to launchpad like this::
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bzr launchpad-login userid
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where `userid` is your Launchpad user ID.
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You can then push your changes to a team branch like this::
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bzr push lp:~team-name/project-name/branch-name
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Others can then download your code like this::
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bzr branch lp:~team-name/project-name/branch-name
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Even if you are not a member of a team, Launchpad can be used to publish
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your changes. In this case, simply create a personal branch like this::
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bzr push lp:~userid/project-name/branch-name
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Others can then download your code like this::
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bzr branch lp:~userid/project-name/branch-name
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Note: Even when publishing to a personal branch, it is polite to notify the
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upstream developers about your branch so they can pull your changes from
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it if they are generally applicable to all users and meet the project's
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Linking branches using Launchpad
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================================
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Associating a branch with a bug
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-------------------------------
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After registering a branch, you can associate it to a bug so that
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people interested in that bug can track and download the fix as
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it becomes available.
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To do this, the steps are:
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1. Navigate to the bug in question.
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2. Select `Add branch` under `Actions`.
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3. Select the branch.
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4. Optionally set the State of the relationship. This is
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*Fix In Progress* by default but you may wish to set it
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to another state such as *Fix Available* if the branch already
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If you wish, you can also provide some arbitrary comments about
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the relationship between the bug and the branch.
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Changing the state in Launchpad while committing in Bazaar
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----------------------------------------------------------
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Bazaar and Launchpad can work together to reduce some of
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the status housekeeping for you. When you commit using Bazaar,
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use the --fixes option like this::
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bzr commit --fixes lp:1234 -m "..."
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where 1234 is the bug ID. This will changes the State of the
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bug-branch relationship to *Fix Available*. If the one commit
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fixes multiple issues, the --fixes option can be specified multiple
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One of the cool things about this feature is that Launchpad does
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not need to be accessible when making the commit. The ``--fixes``
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option works by storing metadata which Launchpad will detect next
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time the branch is pushed to it or scanned once online again.
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Note: Launchpad will not implicitly close a bug just because a
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branch is available that fixes it. There are several reasons for this.
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Firstly, the branch usually needs to be merged into the trunk
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(main development branch) before most teams consider it fixed.
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Secondly, many teams have a separate process for confirming
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bugs are fixed over and above a developer saying so.
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As explained later, merge control features are currently under
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development in Launchpad and automatically changing the status of
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bugs to *Fix Committed* will be more appropriate once those features
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Associating a branch with a blueprint
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-------------------------------------
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After registering a branch, you can associate it to a blueprint so that
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people interested in that blueprint can track and test the feature as
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To do this, the steps are:
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1. Navigate to the blueprint in question.
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2. Select `Link branch` under `Actions`.
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3. Select the branch.
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If you wish, you can also provide some arbitrary comments about
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the relationship between the blueprint and the branch.
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Managing releases using Launchpad
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=================================
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Once a branch has been developed and published, communities
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typically go through a rigorous process before those changes
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are integrated into the core product and rolled out to end users.
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Some of the steps involved may include:
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* peer review of the changes
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* deciding which releases to include the changes in, e.g. the
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next maintenance release, the next major release, or both
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* running functional regression tests
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* benchmarking to ensure performance remains acceptable
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* packaging into early access releases for end user testing
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* documentation updates, e.g. Release Notes for the targeted
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* translation of the user interface and documentation into
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This section briefly looks at some of the features in Launchpad that
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help get good quality code into production. Strong integration with
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Bazaar is core to making this happen smoothly.
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Note: Where indicated, some of the features below are still under
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development. If one or more of these features interest you, please
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consider joining the Launchpad beta test team at this link:
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https://help.launchpad.net/JoiningLaunchpadBetaTesters. You can
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then get early access to features and provide feedback to the
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developers before wider roll-out.
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Branch merge proposals
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----------------------
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After navigating to a branch in Launchpad, one of the available actions
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is *Propose for merging*. This lets you nominate which branch this code
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ought to be merged into.
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Tracking the knowledge about which branches are proposed to be merged
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into a codeline helps Release Managers keep on top of what still needs
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to be completed, or can be completed, before a ship date. Using this
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information, they can ensure branches are merged after completing any
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necessary reviews. In the simple case, the Release Manager may manually
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merge branches. In more advanced cases, the merging could be automatically
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done by a robot (like `PQM`_) when the branch reaches the right state
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(e.g. *Review completed*).
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.. _PQM: https://launchpad.net/pqm
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A number of feature are under development in Launchpad to track the
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states, conversations and outcomes of code reviews. These features are
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expected to be integrated with branch merge proposals and branch
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Personal Package Archives (PPAs)
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--------------------------------
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PPAs help developers and development teams get custom builds into the
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hands of users for early testing and feedback. In other words, a PPA
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allows a developer to form a community of testers who are interested
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in their changes. The testing community can install the packages,
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run them for the test period and then remove them cleanly from their
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See https://help.launchpad.net/PPAQuickStart for further details.
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The Translations module in Launchpad is designed to make it easy for
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anyone to get involved translating applications to languages they know.
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Translators are shielded from the low level details.
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Launchpad keeps track of the translations for each major version of a
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project separately, allowing translators to continue to improve the
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translations of your stable releases while others start work on newer
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versions that are still in development. Translation speed in reduced
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by sharing resources across projects. Automatic suggestions, from a
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library of 750,000 translated strings, and a community of 19,000
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registered translators can radically cut the time required to
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localise your project into many languages.
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The communities we join, whether off-line or on-line,
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say a lot about the sort of people we are. The flip-side
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to this is that the tools you choose for your community - particularly
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the CDE and version control tool - can have a large impact on who
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joins and how easily they can contribute.
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In their own right, Launchpad and Bazaar are highly useful tools.
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* help your community track major assets such as source code and knowledge
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* help it grow by reducing barriers to entry
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* help it interact with related communities.
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In particular, Launchpad is a free code hosting service for your Bazaar
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branches, branches can be browsed online, branches can be linked to bugs
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and blueprints, and the status of bug-branch relationships can be
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automatically managed by mentioning the bug while commiting in Bazaar.
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Further integration is under development with the aim of streamlining
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the process from *great idea* to *running code in the hands of end users*.
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If you have any feedback on how you'd like to see Bazaar and Launchpad
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further integrated, please contact us on the Bazaar mailing list,
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bazaar@lists.canonical.com.
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While designed as a free service to support open source projects,
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Canonical may make Launchpad available to commercial software developers
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depending on their requirements. We would be happy to hear from you
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if you think Launchpad would be useful for managing your community,
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open source or otherwise.
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doc/en/tutorials/using_bazaar_with_launchpad.txt
