Stealth feature

Last release, Tim added a stealth feature to Launchpad. Since it's incomplete we didn't announce it on the official blog, but it's useful enough to share here.

If you browse to https://code.launchpad.net/~$USERNAME/$PROJECT, you'll get a list of all the branches in $PROJECT owned by $USERNAME, e.g. Chris's Gnome Do branches or Graham's Gwibber branches. I use this mostly to track my own branches in a project so I can make sure I haven't let any slip through the cracks.

We want to make it possible to get to these pages without URL hacking, of course. But if you use both Bazaar and Launchpad quite heavily then this trick is worth knowing about even as it is.

Truth (again)

I originally posted this on my other blog. I saw it while digging up another post and thought I'd take it's advice.

Originally found on Presentation Zen.

Time-based releases and love

I believe in time-based releases. I believe in frequent releases. I believe in a trunk branch that is always ready to be a release candidate. Many Free Software developers share my beliefs. For a long time I haven't questioned it. It's obviously good to release regularly and often.

"It is hard to argue that bzr isn't in a state of flux when a new stable version is available once a month." - Jason Earl, Bazaar mailing list.

Now I think I have to begin asking questions.

Is it possible that time-based releases actually create negative impressions of software? Should regular releasers slow down their cadence? How should compatibility watersheds (format, API, whatever) affect a release cycle? What would Bazaar's format reputation be like if they released every six months instead of every month?