Launchpad 1.2.2: faster PPA builds, enhanced bug subscriptions and more karma!

[Matthew Revell]

It's time for another Launchpad release and this is one with
something for just about everyone!

 * Karma fiends take note: registering branches and linking
   branches to bugs or blueprints now earns you karma! Want
   to know more about karma? Take a look at
   https://help.launchpad.net/KarmaCalculation

 * Faster PPA builds: we've cut the time it takes to build
   packages in PPAs. The moment you upload your source,
   Launchpad starts building.

 * More bug notifications: now you can subscribe to get bug
   mail about any milestone, project, package or
   distribution.

 * Savannah bug watches: keep an eye on bugs tracked at
   savannah.gnu.org and savannah.nongnu.org

 * Improved branch registration page: it's now easier to
   register a branch in Launchpad.

There's also exciting news for Launchpad beta testers! You
can now apply to use Launchpad to run a mailing list for a
team you're involved with. Find out more at
https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp

Not a beta tester yet? You're missing out on first looks at
new features and the chance to shape the future of Launchpad.
Learn more at https://help.launchpad.net/BetaTesting

Read on for more of what's new in Launchpad 1.2.2.


Package management and PPAs (Soyuz)
===================================

 * PPA build times have been cut by up to an hour. Now, the
   build process starts as soon as you upload a package.

 * Packages in PPAs now have a changelog and details of the
   resultant binary packages. Visit
   https://launchpad.net/~mythbuntu/+archive and expand
   one of the packages listed to see an example. (Bug 181323)

 * Ubuntu's unapproved package queue is now visible to all
   Launchpad users. Visit
   https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/hardy/+queue?queue_state=1
   (Bug 181297)

 * Rejecting language packs from the upload queue previously
   caused a UI OOPS or queue-tool crash. This is now fixed.
   (Bug 187285)

 * If a package fails to build because it depends on a
   binary that is not available, DEPWAIT will now retry the
   build only if it can fulfil all dependencies from a
   compatible component. This will result in cleaner build
   logs and more build slots for other packages. (Bug 177827)

 * Packages synced from Debian are now automatically
   overridden to the correct Ubuntu component. Packages from
   Debian main enter Ubuntu universe, while packages from
   Debian's contrib and non-free enter Ubuntu's multiverse.
   (Bug 120052)


Launchpad Code
==============

 * We've overhauled the "Register branch" page to make it
   easier and quicker to register a new branch. Improvements
   include: a drop-down list to choose the branch owner, which
   is populated by yourself and the teams of which you're a
   member and a preview of the branch URL, if you're
   registering a hosted branch, which is updated as you
   change the branch details (such as the owner). If you're
   registering a hosted branch, you'll also notice that the
   branch URL field is disabled. Mail feedback at launchpad.net
   with your comments on these changes!
   (Bugs 184707 and 184708)

 * You can propose a merger between two branches that are
   tracked by Launchpad. For example: if someone wants to
   add a new feature to your code, they can create a new
   branch, hack on it, upload it back to Launchpad and then
   propose it for merger with your original branch. As the
   owner of that original branch, you can now review and
   either accept or reject the proposed merger directly in
   the Launchpad UI. Find out more at
   https://help.launchpad.net/BranchMergeProposals
   (Blueprint branch-merge-signoff)

 * More karma! Registering branches and linking branches to
   bugs or blueprints now adds to your karma. These
   activities also now show up on your Launchpad profile
   page as participation in the relevant project.

 * When browsing a branch's recent revisions, the name of a
   revision's author is now taken from the Bazaar "author"
   attribute, where available. (Bug 144062)

 * When searching for a branch - for example, to create a
   bug-branch link - you can now search for the full unique
   name of the branch, such as ~bzr/bzr/trunk. (Bug 173121)


Bug Tracker
===========

 * Staying informed of the latest bugs associated with
   something that interests you is now supremely easy.
   Simply click "Subscribe to bugmail" in the Actions menu
   on the overview page of a milestone, project,
   distribution package or a distribution itself.
   Subscriptions for project-groups (e.g.
   https://launchpad.net/mozilla) will come later this year.
   (Bugs 186607, 186611, 186612, 186616 and 186619)

 * You can now use Launchpad to watch bugs that are tracked
   on savannah.gnu.org and savannah.nongnu.org. (Bug 45386)

 * Using the bug tracker's email interface? Now you can
   attach files to a bug report without having to use the
   web interface. Simply attach the file to an email and
   send it to the bug tracker. Certain types of file, such
   as email signatures, are ignored. (Bug 30225)

 * Bug notification emails have two new headers:
   X-Launchpad-Bug-Private and
   X-Launchpad-Bug-Security-Vulnerability. Their value can
   be either "yes" or "no". Also, notifications about new
   security-related bugs have a prominent notice at the top
   of the message:
   "*** This bug is a security vulnerability ***"
   (Bug 45583)

 * Want help using the bug tracker's email interface? Send a
   blank mail from one of your Launchpad-registered email
   addresses to help at bugs.launchpad.net and you'll get a
   reply with instructions. (Bug 158700)

 * Launchpad logs unexpected errors as "OOPS reports". Now,
   if such an error occurs while you're using the bug email
   interface, Launchpad will email you with the OOPS report
   number to let you know that there was a problem. If the
   error is blocking your work, you can file a support
   request at
   https://answers.launchpad.net/launchpad/+addquestion
   (Bug 126949)


Translations
============

 * It's now easier to browse someone's translations, which
   is useful if you're evaluating their work. Currently you
   can visit their translations overview page and see a list
   of all the applications and distribution packages they've
   helped translate. Clicking on an application and package
   name now reveals the full list of strings they've
   contributed. Previously this would display the list of
   other translators for that application. Take a look at
   https://translations.launchpad.net/people/+me to try it
   out if you're an active translator.
   (Blueprint easy-translator-evaluation-view)

 * Launchpad supports up to four plural forms in each
   language. We are working to extend that to six but, in
   the meantime, Launchpad will email you an error message
   to explain the problem if it occurs.
   (Bugs 181707 and 189880)

 * You will now get more helpful error messages if a
   translation file import fails. (Bug 35430)

 * You can now use PO files that have escaped newlines.
   (Bug 185841)

 * In languages with multiple plural forms, omitting one or
   more forms from a translation previously caused an error.
   We've now fixed this. (Bug 186548)

 * We fixed a bug where a translation's last contributor
   (the "Last-Translator" field) was not updated when the
   translation changed. (Bug 190145)

 * Searching for the name of a language at
   https://translations.launchpad.net/+languages is now case
   insensitive. You can also search using parts of a language
   name. For example: searching for "pani" will return
   "Spanish". (Bug 127901)

 * Searching translations will now also search for parts of
   words. For example: search for "download" and you'll also
   receive results for "downloading", "downloadable", etc.

-- 
Matthew Revell - talk to me about Launchpad
Join us in #launchpad on irc.freenode.net