Bug tracking / Feature request - Sound off!

Engines, Libraries and Tools Tools Discussion
#1

It occrued to me after posting my Code Management topic that I am also looking at some options for implementing a basic bug and feature tracker. This is one area that I have very little personal experience so I would really appreciate recommendations as well. Some key features I would like:

Free - this is, afterall, not my “real” job. Open Source is prefered, but as long as there is no charge for use I’ll consider non-OS as well.
Must run on Linux. I’m comfortable crossing distributions or building from source.
Fairly easy to setup / maintain - I don’t want to have to invest too much time in this. I would like to have a solution running over the course of a couple evenings.
Configurable categories / prioritization, etc - This will be for both bug and feature tracking and should be able to relate tickets, create child tickets, etc.
Multiple user roles - Users should be tracked. It will initially be for just myself, but I will eventually open it up to beta testers and any one else that joins the team.
No “client” installation - I prefer not to use anything that forces the user to run a local client. A web-based solution would be preferable ( I’m pretty comfortable w/ Apache and have set up wiki’s and message boards, v-hosts, security, etc ). Non-web-based options considered as long as I don’t have to ask my testers to install anything.

Hope these aren’t too strict. I can imagine they are very unique in the big scheme of things and many appear to be common in some of the options I have briefly looked at. I just don’t know anyone working with / running such a product to solicit opinions.

advTHANKSance!!! :smiley:

#2

I forgot to add…Scarab and Mantis are the two I have started looking at so far.

#3

any reason not to use sourceforge ?

#4

I use a very simple program called PHP BugTracker http://phpbt.sourceforge.net/

I tried BugZilla before - it is hideous and next to impossible to set up.

I looked into Scarab - it is at least not a mess of Perl, but it is also hideous and impossible to set up.

Mantis looks like it might be good.

#5

We use mantis at my office. It’s easy to use and we have had no drama.

#6

Try out Jira. It’s commercial but has free licences for non-profit/OpenSource development. We use it at work and are quite happy with it.

#7

I didn’t find BugZilla hard to setup, but it’s user interface is horrible.

ITracker is pretty easy to setup and has a nice user interface.

#8

Gets less-crap every year. Still hate using it, still use it because in general its the best of a bad bunch - better the devil you know, of course.

Some interesting custom UI’s for it - webapps, desktop apps…

Would also suggest looking at things like RT3

#9

Maybe it’s because I’ve only ever used horrible bug tracking, but I found BugZilla to be really good. The interface is logical and uncluttered, and you can easily define your own searches for the things you need often.

#10

Sourceforce is geared to provide hosting for OS development. I’m a major believer and supporter of OS. As I work on my game projects there will very likely be some components that may be good enough for contribution back to the community ( like some of the shared code posted here ). Additionally, some of my smaller scale “learning” projects will probably be opened up. But any work on the core projects which I am devoting serious effort into will be intrnal. That rules our SF hosting.

#11

I’ll have to look at ITracker. I haven’t come across that one yet in my searches.

Jira was of interrest to me but since I (hopefully!) will go commercial at some point I don’t want to be faced with a choice of purchasing a license or converting historical efforts to another solution.

BugZilla just always felt “bigger” than I needed. From what I read of it, it seemed to have a lot more involved in the setup, config and maintenance efforts than was justified by a small project. However, a lot of groups seem to use it…so that usually means something. I’ll see if they have a quick-start available and give it a try when I’m checking out the others.