FAQ

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Revision 18 as of 2008-07-10 23:41:01

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Why do I need to have an account to report or comment on a bug?

Creating a Launchpad account takes only five minutes and an e-mail address.

Does Launchpad host Bazaar (bzr) branches? How do I set one up? Can it be a branch to which multiple people can commit?

We do host Launchpad branches. You can easily set one up, and yes, the branches can be shared. To find out how, read more about Bazaar and Launchpad.

I discovered I already have an account registered in Launchpad. How did that happen, and how do I activate it?

In certain situations Launchpad pre-creates people, based on email address, in its database:

These accounts are inactive, and their email address is not displayed anywhere in Launchpad. Launchpad only uses that information to satisfy referential integrity constraints in the database (and to allow us to credit you on the work you have done in the open source world!)

An easy way to find out if Launchpad already created an account for you is searching through Launchpad accounts for your name or email addresses.

If you discover Launchpad has already created an account for you, claiming it is easy: just request a new password for it. If you don't know what email address was used when creating that account, email help@launchpad.net.

I discovered I have two accounts registered in Launchpad. How did that happen, and how do I fix it?

See the previous question for an explanation of why Launchpad may have created an account automatically.

If you already have a Launchpad account, claiming a second account that belongs to you is easy:

Step 1: Log in to Launchpad using the account you would like to keep.
Step 2: Visit https://launchpad.net/people/+requestmerge
Step 3: Enter the name or email address of the duplicated account you discovered.
Step 4: A message will be sent to each email address registered for that account. Follow the instructions in the confirmation message, and the merge will be complete. All information (translations, bugs, etc.) associated to that account will be transferred to your Launchpad account.

If you no longer have access to an email address registered for your duplicate account, email file a support request at https://answers.edge.launchpad.net/launchpad/+addquestion

Who gets emailed when I upload a source package to Launchpad?

It depends. Launchpad sends out two emails in the most common case, which is that of:

Of those two emails:

If a selected email address is associated to a Launchpad account that is a member of a team permitted to upload to the distribution (ubuntu-core-dev for Ubuntu, for example), it will receive a notification of the upload.

Is Launchpad Free Software/open source? If not, why not?

Like Sourceforge and Google Code Hosting Launchpad is not open source. Unlike those other services, we have committed to making Launchpad Free Software.

Launchpad exists not just to make development easier within projects, but also to encourage collaboration between projects. With Launchpad, distributors and upstream developers can share bug reports, translations, and code. Until there are standards and APIs that let standalone sites send these things to each other, having a single Launchpad instance is the most practical way of maximizing the collaboration that Launchpad is designed to achieve. It also helps in funding Launchpad development in the short term.

We have released the code for Storm, which Launchpad uses to handle its SQL database; and CSCVS, which Launchpad uses to mirror CVS/Subversion trees to Bazaar. We also make many contributions to other Free Software components we use, including Zope, Bazaar, SQLObject, and Twisted.

Can I translate Launchpad itself into my language?

Not yet. Launchpad is still in the process of having its templates assembled and published, and the infrastructure for serving different languages is not yet ready. When this happens, we'll be sure to make a public announcement and invite community translators.

How long will it take for my CDs to arrive? Will you really send me CDs for free?

You can find out more about ShipIt and free CDs in the Shipit FAQ.

See our legal details pages.

How do I contact a Launchpad administrator?

The Launchpad administrators are a group of people that have special powers inside Launchpad. They are usually able to solve most simple problems related to user accounts.

The best way to get prompt attention from an administrator is though IRC, as detailed in our feedback page. You can also email feedback@launchpad.net