=================
README for Bazaar
=================

Bazaar (``bzr``) is a decentralized revision control system, designed to be
easy for developers and end users alike.  Bazaar is part of the GNU project to
develop a complete free operating system.

To install Bazaar from source, follow the instructions in the INSTALL
file. Otherwise, you may want to check your distribution package manager
for ready-to-install packages, or http://bazaar-vcs.org/DistroDownloads.

To learn how to use Bazaar, check the documentation in the doc/ directory.
Once installed, you can also run 'bzr help'. An always up-to-date and more
complete set of documents can be found in the Bazaar website, at:

    http://bazaar-vcs.org/Documentation

Bazaar is written in Python, and is sponsored by Canonical Limited, the
founders of Ubuntu and Launchpad. Bazaar is Free Software, and is released
under the GNU General Public License.

Bazaar was formerly known as Bazaar-NG.  It's the successor to ``baz``, a fork
of GNU arch, but shares no code.  (To upgrade from Baz, use the ``baz-import``
command in the bzrtools plugin.)

Bazaar highlights
=================

* Easy to use and intuitive.

  Only five commands are needed to do all basic operations, and all
  commands have documentation accessible via 'bzr help command'.
  Bazaar's interface is also easy to learn for CVS and Subversion users.

* Robust and reliable.

  Bazaar is developed under an extensive test suite. Branches can be
  checked and verified for integrity at any time, and revisions can be
  signed with PGP/GnuPG.

* Publish branches with HTTP.

  Branches can be hosted on an HTTP server with no need for special
  software on the server side. Branches can be uploaded by bzr itself
  over SSH (SFTP), or with rsync.

* Adapts to multiple environments.

  Bazaar runs on Linux and Windows, fully supports Unicode filenames,
  and suits different development models, including centralized.

* Easily extended and customized.

  A rich Python interface is provided for extending and embedding,
  including a plugin interface. There are already many available plugins,
  most of them registered at http://bazaar-vcs.org/PluginRegistry.

* Smart merging.

  Changes will never be merged more than once, conflicts will be
  minimized, and identical changes are dealt with well.

* Vibrant and active community.

  Help with Bazaar is obtained easily, via the mailing list, or the IRC
  channel.


Registration and Feedback
=========================

If you encounter any problems with Bazaar, need help understanding it, or would
like to offer suggestions or feedback, please get in touch with us:

* Ask a question through our web support interface, at 
  https://answers.launchpad.net/bzr/

* Report bugs at https://bugs.edge.launchpad.net/bzr/+filebug

* Write to us at bazaar@lists.canonical.com 
  You can join the list at <https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/bazaar>.
  You don't need to subscribe to post, but your first post will be held 
  briefly for manual moderation.

* Talk to us in irc://irc.ubuntu.com/bzr

* And see http://bazaar-vcs.org/BzrSupport for more.

If you would like to help us improve Bazaar by telling us about yourself and
what we could do better, please register and complete the online survey here:
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=L94RvLswhKdktrxiHWiX3g_3d_3d.  
Registration is completely optional. 

Enjoy,
The Bazaar Team
