Comment 11 for bug 122001

The real problem is that bzr has not friendly way to clear the lock file, in the case where, for example, kdiff3 crashes and leaves the tree in that "locked" state. So the "temporary" problem becomes permanent.

If one of bzr's commands could clean up that problem, then it would help. For example, if "bzr check" would say something like:

"If this problem appears permanent, ensure no other programs are using the trye, then use:
bzr check --unlock --force".

Or something like that.

Most hardcore developers prob. manually delete the lock file,
others reboot the system or just form another branch as a workaround,
or use git instead (with github being so popular),
but the really friendly solution would be to make bzr smart enough to either
a) check to make sure the lock is still need,
or
b) allow the operator to break the lock and return the tree to a usable state.

I don't know if (a) is possible, but (b) should be, even if it is dangerous is used incorrectly.

Which is why I suggest the --force option.