Invalid URL error can occur when URL is not modified

I've read that Launchpad-bugs is wrong for such bugs

The branch you are referring to
https://code.launchpad.net/~matthias-mueller-reineke/bzr-gtk/refactor-olive
is registered as a mirror branch, and its source URL is set to
sftp://bazaar.launchpad.net/~bzr/bzr-gtk/refactor-olive

The actual bug was that you were allowed to register a mirror branch with such an URL in the first place.

Surprisingly, it turns out that the branch URL validation DOES accept "sftp://bazaar.launchpad.net/~bzr/bzr-gtk/refactor-olive". This is a bug. Launchpad should indeed display the error message you are reporting, but it does not.

It should display an error message because it makes no sense for Launchpad to try mirroring a branch it hosts itself. And it won't even try anyway.

Ideally, you should be able to delete this branch. In the meantime, you could modify its URL to point to a real bzr branch on the internet (NOT on Launchpad), or you could set its URL to a dud value (for example: http://example.com/olive-refactor/delete-me) and set its status to Abandoned so it won't be displayed in most listings.

In the future, you will also be able to convert a branch from "mirror" (like this one) and "hosted". This is not possible at the moment, and the error message you are reporting assumes that people provided a launchpad.net URL because they tried to create a mirror branch when they really wanted to create a hosted branch.

See bug 126630.

Approving bug. When the URL validation is fixed, previously recorded invalid URLs that were not modified should not cause errors to prevent user confusion.

Perhaps a better error message, but that's as far as I'd go. Simple deletion will be implemented for 1.1.8.

Tim, are you saying this should be WONTFIX?

Yes, marking this as Won't Fix.

If the URL is invalid, then it should be fixed rather than allow the user to keep an invalid URL.

If the branch is inherently broken due to pointing at bazaar.launchpad.net or some other invalid URL, then if the user wants the branch to mean something they need to point to the appropriate place. If the user doesn't want the branch, they can now delete it, and if it is just a place holder then it should be a Remote branch rather than a fake mirror branch.