Launchpad 1.1.9 released!
Published by Matthew Revell September 21, 2007 in Releases
Earlier today we release Launchpad 1.1.9! So, what’s new this time round?
- New “remote” branches: register a remote branch if you want Launchpad to monitor it and link to its code-browser but you don’t want Launchpad to import the branch itself. Ideal for security related branches.
- bzr+ssh is now the recommended way to upload a branch to Launchpad. sftp is still available.
- We’ve updated the PPA terms of service to allow for a wider range of free and open licences.
- You can now search for Incomplete bugs based on whether they’ve had a response or not.
- If you add a bug watch in an external tracker that Launchpad doesn’t already know about you can add the new bug tracker at the same time.
- Upstream projects now have a view to show all bugs that need to be forwarded to that project from a distribution.
- All of a project’s translation files are downloadable in a single tarball.
- KDE plurals and context strings are now supported in translation imports and exports.
There’s plenty more in this release, too. Stay subscribed to this blog for more on individual features and take a look at the full 1.1.9 release notes for every last detail.
As ever, we want to hear from you and there a few ways to get in touch:
- join the launchpad-users mailing list
- visit #launchpad on Freenode
- come along to our weekly development meeting – 14.00UTC Thursdays in #launchpad
- take part in one of our user meetings – keep your eye on this blog for the date of the next meeting
- email feedback@launchpad.net.
Launchpad privacy policy
Published by Matthew Revell September 19, 2007 in Notifications
Today, we have introduced a privacy and data retention policy that covers your relationship with Launchpad. You can find it at:
https://help.launchpad.net/PrivacyPolicy
The policy describes the ways in which we use and retain data in Launchpad, including how we:
- gather data
- use cookies
- collect and use data
- allow for data removal and account closure.
This policy formalises what we already do and so is not a change to the way we use data in Launchpad. Please read the policy and send any questions to feedback@launchpad.net.
If you’d like to receive notifications of updates to the policy, please subscribe to the Launchpad News notification feed at http://news.launchpad.net/category/notifications/feed
Coming changes in Launchpad 1.1.9
Published by Matthew Revell September 14, 2007 in Coming changes
The next release of Launchpad is due on the 19th September. As always there’ll be new features, bug fixes and one or two changes to the way some parts of Launchpad work.
I’ll post full details of what’s new on the release day. For now, here are the changes that may affect the way you use Launchpad:
General Launchpad
- Bug 127879: Python examples will no longer be misinterpreted as
quotes and so won’t be collapsed as quotes. - Bug 129815: Milestone overview pages will show the total number of bugs and blueprints targeted.
Answers
- Bug 129497: Questions will no longer be automatically expired if they are linked to an open bug.
- Bug 3970: It will be possible to turn a bug report into a question.
Code
- Bug 74031: Mirror branch pages will display the mirroring interval and the time of the next planned mirroring.
- Bug 130883: Imports of Subversion trunks that use a name other than “trunk” will be possible.
- Bug 133983: On the branch home page, the revision number shown in the “Recent revisions” list will be hyperlinked to codebrowse and will show the diff for that revision.
- Bug 133599: The URLs that are shown on the branch index page will show the Bazaar smart server URLs rather than SFTP.
- Bug 43808: It will be possible to make a bug-branch link from the branch page.
Bug tracker
- Bug 4592: If you add a watch of a bug in an external tracker that Launchpad doesn’t already know about, it’s now much easier to give Launchpad the details of that new bug tracker.
- Bug 91925: Unassigned bugs that have the “Incomplete” status for 60 days will automatically be switched to “Invalid” status to help provide cleaner bug search results.
- Bug 126224: Removing an attachment from a bug will also remove the associated comment.
You can go find more about what we have planned on the Launchpad 1.1.9 milestone page.
PPA and Packaging 101 class
Published by Matthew Revell September 11, 2007 in PPA
The Personal Package Archives beta has received an enthusiastic response!
If you’re interested in learning to package for Ubuntu and want to use your PPA, read on.
At 15.00 UTC on Thursday 13th September, the Launchpad and Ubuntu MOTU teams are jointly hosting PPA and Packaging 101. This IRC session in #launchpad will introduce you to:
- the basics of packaging for Ubuntu
- solving your dependencies from the relevant Ubuntu section – i.e. the ogre model
- version consistency between PPA and Ubuntu’s primary archive.
It’s also your opportunity to ask questions about PPA and get answers from the Launchpad and MOTU teams. If you want to see a particular topic covered, add it to the class’s agenda on the Launchpad help wiki.
See you there!
Personal Package Archives
Published by Matthew Revell September 4, 2007 in Cool new stuff
A few years back, I switched from Red Hat to Debian for one main reason: apt. I loved the ease with which I could install and remove software that had been packaged specifically for my operating system.
Now I use Ubuntu and I still think apt rocks. I can’t even remember the last time I thought about dependencies.
Your own apt repository
Recently, we’ve been working on a new Launchpad feature: Personal Package Archives. With PPAs, you can build Ubuntu packages and make them available to other Ubuntu users in your own apt repository. Whether you’re packaging brand new stuff or creating your own versions of existing Ubuntu packages, PPA takes care of the building and hosting.
It works like this:
- You create an Ubuntu source package.
- You upload your source package to Launchpad.
- Launchpad builds your package for X86 and AMD64 architectures.
- You invite testers, friends, end-users or whoever else to add your PPA’s address to their
sources.list.
Your apt repository is hosted by Launchpad and works just like any other. For example: if you upload a newer version of one of your packages, your users will automatically get the update.
Teams can also have their own PPAs. MythBuntu is one of the teams that have started using their PPA. You can view the overview of their PPA and the archive itself is at:
http://ppa.launchpad.net/mythbuntu/ubuntu/
Beta testing PPA
If you want to start building and distributing Ubuntu packages using your own PPA, the first step is to make sure you’re familiar with packaging for Ubuntu. Other than that, you simply need to join the Launchpad Beta Testers team and then follow our PPA quick-start guide.
Let us know how you get on – post a comment here and join us on the launchpad-users list.
Launchpad 1.1.8 released
Published by Matthew Revell August 23, 2007 in Releases
Earlier this morning, we unleashed Launchpad 1.1.8, our release for August 2007.
1.1.8 sees a great deal of activity in the Bug Tracker, an important new feature in Code, an exciting development in the Personal Package Archives beta and improvements right across every other part of Launchpad.
Highlights include:
- The Personal Package Archives beta is now ready to start running in Launchpad’s production environment (launchpad.net) and will be available to Launchpad beta testers a day or two after this release.
- Branch owners can now specify which branch, if any, they intend to merge their code into. This will make it easier for other Launchpad users to understand the original branch owner’s intentions for their code.
- People, projects and distribution series (e.g. Ubuntu Feisty) have pages showing their own translation import queues.
- Branches with no subscribers, links or mirrors can be deleted.
- Emails from the Bug Tracker now state the bug’s milestone in the header.
- Setting a bug’s tag is now possible using the email interface.
- The bug view page is easier to use following several interface improvements.
There’s a whole load more, too! Read the full release notes to find out more.
How we develop Launchpad – an interview
Published by Matthew Revell August 13, 2007 in Podcast
With gigabytes of live data and thousands of users, I was keen to know how Launchpad’s development team work together to produce a new release each month.
I chatted with one of my Launchpad colleagues, Joey Stanford, at Canonical’s London offices to find out more about:
- Launchpad’s four weekly release cycles.
- How a features makes it from idea to release.
- The importance of the Launchpad Beta Testers team.
You can download our conversation as:
- Ogg Vorbis file
- and MP3 file.
Meet the Launchpad team on August 15th in #launchpad
Published by Matthew Revell August 10, 2007 in General
Come and chat to some of the Launchpad team on August 15th at 16.00 UTC in #launchpad.
If you have any burning Launchpad questions, want to make a suggestion or otherwise want to chat with some of the team behind Launchpad, we’d love to meet you.
Add your question or comment to the agenda at:
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/LaunchpadUserMeeting/2007-08-15
Maintenance Sunday 5th August 2007
Published by Matthew Revell August 2, 2007 in Notifications
On Sunday 5th August, we’re taking Launchpad offline for roughly five hours.
The downtime between 4am and 9am UTC will allow us to carry out routine database maintenance.
We’re sorry for the inconvenience this will cause. If you want to find out about future maintenance periods or major changes to Launchpad, subscribe to our Notifications feed or check our Maintenance page.
Launchpad 1.1.7 released
Published by Matthew Revell July 19, 2007 in Releases
The past four weeks have flown by in a flurry of activity here in the
Launchpad team, resulting in the most improvements of any 2007 release
so far! 1.1.7 brings bug fixes and new features right across Launchpad.
What’s new in 1.1.7?
Highlights in Launchpad 1.1.7 include:
- Larger font size: visit launchpad.net and you’ll see that we’ve increased the size of the text used on the site, making it easier to read Launchpad’s default text size.
- New remote bug tracker support: Launchpad can now track bugs in the Mantis bug tracker. (Find out more)
- Improved duplicate bug handling: if someone has already reported the bug you’ve encountered it’s now much easier to select that report rather than create a duplicate.
- Frequently Asked Questions in the Answer Tracker: answer contacts can now mark frequently asked questions and create a canonical answer that is available to anyone using the Answer Tracker. (Quick-start guide)
- Teams can now set their default language: teams can become an answer contact for a specific language.
- Branch associations: you can now see all bugs, blueprints and subscribers associated with a branch on its branch associations page.
For full details of Launchpad 1.1.7, take a look at the release notes.
I’ll also be blogging here soon in more details about the new features in 1.1.7!
