New Bazaar Branches on Launchpad don't work

[Jonathan Lange]

On Mon, May 18, 2009 at 5:02 PM, Russel Winder
<russel.winder at concertant.com> wrote:
>
>> Why is Launchpad forcibly stacking branches?  I didn't ask for it and
>> its fascism is stopping me from using Launchpad int eh way I am used to.
>
> OK, this just gets worse.
>
> The trunk gets stacked on by new branches (even though this was not
> asked for or wanted) and this makes the stacked on branch not removable
> even though Launchpad is failing to correctly report the actual state of
> the trunk branch.
>
> So Launchpad is interfering in two ways that stop any sane usefulness --
> it insists on using stacking with no allowance of control from the
> project owners AND it won't allow the project owners to delete
> recalcitrant branches so they can be reinstated in a good state.
>
> This is not reconcilable with my idea of a usable system.
>
> I shall go and use Git for a while so I get really angry ;-)
>

I am truly sorry that Launchpad has caused you so much grief. I
personally want Launchpad's codehosting to be a near-perfect invisible
service that just lets you get on with doing whatever awesome things
you are doing in your branch.

I can't fix the immediate problem right now, but I can tell you the
thinking behind our decisions.

Launchpad stacks branches so we can store less redundant data and so
that users can push new branches of an existing project quickly. The
last is a very common use case for Launchpad.

We stack branches by providing a hint in a configuration file that
suggests to the Bazaar client that branches should be stacked on the
development focus. Bazaar respects this hint by default and stacks the
branch.

Since most projects on Launchpad are for hosting a single code base,
and since stacking is (when it works!) an implementation detail that
saves our users' time, Launchpad stacks branches by default. This
sensible default is intended to be backed up the the Bazaar client
allowing users to chose not to stack when they push. I can't seem to
find that option though.

We don't let stacked-on branches be deleted, because deleting such a
branch breaks every branch that is stacked on it. This is acceptable
in only the rarest of circumstances. If you ask a question at
https://answers.launchpad.net/launchpad, you'll be able to get someone
with admin privileges to sort out the situation.

More generally, we should never recommend a cscvs import as a
stacked-on branch, and Launchpad could probably grow a configuration
option for a branch to say that it should not be recommended for
stacking.

Regards,
jml