I have just found out that a client is looking at bug/issue management systems, with the ones they've mentioned being Axosoft, Track Studio and Projector. (All but the latter are easy to find online, I've not found Projector's website).
The client will be using them, I believe, to track maintenance and other issues on their site (ie not software bugs).
Are there any good FOSS alternatives I should suggest to them or should I stay out of their way? I suspect that none of the off-the-shelf packages will do what they want and a FOSS option would make it easier to modify, but the other suggestion of building something from scratch will probably be a big uphill struggle unless it turns out they have very simple needs.
The two I've used are Bugzilla [www.bugzilla.org] and Mantis [www.mantisbt.org].
The former requires shell access to setup, and has a number of requirements. Mantis is simpler, in that you just extract the PHP, but it's less featureful. Both require some effort to get the best out of them, though - I don't think either are what I'd term user friendly.
Peter.
2008/11/26 Mark Rogers mark@quarella.co.uk:
I have just found out that a client is looking at bug/issue management systems, with the ones they've mentioned being Axosoft, Track Studio and Projector. (All but the latter are easy to find online, I've not found Projector's website).
The client will be using them, I believe, to track maintenance and other issues on their site (ie not software bugs).
Are there any good FOSS alternatives I should suggest to them or should I stay out of their way? I suspect that none of the off-the-shelf packages will do what they want and a FOSS option would make it easier to modify, but the other suggestion of building something from scratch will probably be a big uphill struggle unless it turns out they have very simple needs.
-- Mark Rogers // More Solutions Ltd (Peterborough Office) // 0845 45 89 555 Registered in England (0456 0902) at 13 Clarke Rd, Milton Keynes, MK1 1LG
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On Wed, Nov 26, 2008 at 02:23:56PM +0000, Mark Rogers wrote:
I have just found out that a client is looking at bug/issue management systems, with the ones they've mentioned being Axosoft, Track Studio and Projector. (All but the latter are easy to find online, I've not found Projector's website).
The client will be using them, I believe, to track maintenance and other issues on their site (ie not software bugs).
Are there any good FOSS alternatives I should suggest to them or should I stay out of their way? I suspect that none of the off-the-shelf packages will do what they want and a FOSS option would make it easier to modify, but the other suggestion of building something from scratch will probably be a big uphill struggle unless it turns out they have very simple needs.
trac (especially if they're using revision control)? http://trac.edgewall.org/ RT? http://bestpractical.com/rt/ Bugzilla?
J.
2008/11/26 Jonathan McDowell noodles@earth.li:
On Wed, Nov 26, 2008 at 02:23:56PM +0000, Mark Rogers wrote:
Are there any good FOSS alternatives I should suggest
trac (especially if they're using revision control)? http://trac.edgewall.org/ RT? http://bestpractical.com/rt/ Bugzilla?
Bugzilla is OK, but most non-FOSS developers I know think it's very basic and unprofessional.
Tim.
Tim Green wrote:
2008/11/26 Jonathan McDowell noodles@earth.li:
trac (especially if they're using revision control)? http://trac.edgewall.org/ RT? http://bestpractical.com/rt/ Bugzilla?
Bugzilla is OK, but most non-FOSS developers I know think it's very basic and unprofessional.
I think the key problem is that they're NOT trying to track software defects, but other site issues (machine not working, etc). So certainly revision control won't be relevant and most of the features of something like Bugzilla would probably be wrongly targeted too.
I found this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_issue_tracking_systems .. which would be helpful if any of the terms used meant anything to me :-) I'll probably just forward that URL to my customer and see which he thinks might sound relevant.
I think Mark I am in the same situation as you (with roughly the same requirements) so I would be interested to hear when you have decided on a solution.
Principally I want a system to track and log faults on a particular piece of equipment that is installed in most hospitals. Something that can log from the initial support call through assignment to the helpdesk or the engineering team and their actions/responses (In this particular case there is currently no requirement for the end user to have access)
From that I want to be able to generate a machine history report and
stats such as average time to resolution etc. Hopefully (given there could be multiple installations at one site) I would also like it if machines could be grouped as belonging to a specific site.
I have hunted around a bit and although it looks like RT could be bent into this shape I am not quite convinced it is the right tool.
On 26/11/2008 14:23:56, Mark Rogers wrote:
I have just found out that a client is looking at bug/issue management systems,
...
Are there any good FOSS alternatives I should suggest to them or should I stay out of their way? I suspect that none of the off-the- shelf packages will do what they want and a FOSS option would make it easier to modify, but the other suggestion of building something from scratch will probably be a big uphill struggle unless it turns out they have very simple needs.
I am not an expert on these systems but there is a big Wikipedia comparison here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Comparison_of_issue_tracking_systems
I am pretty sure it was in connection with one of the proprietary systems of this kind I heard of a company spending much time and money customising the system to their own requirements then to find:
1. Their customisations had become the property of the original supplier.
2. The supplier changed direction so they were stuck using a very old version or re-doing their customisation.
Compare with an FOSS system:
1. Even a license like the GPL only becomes "viral" when you chose to distribute the changed version.
2. If you do decide to contribute your changes back you may be able to influence future development and even get someone else to maintain your customised code for you.
Regards, Steve.
We use mantis for software projects - may be worth looking at.
www.mantisbt.org
Stuart
On Wednesday 26 November 2008 14:23:56 Mark Rogers wrote:
I have just found out that a client is looking at bug/issue management systems, with the ones they've mentioned being Axosoft, Track Studio and Projector. (All but the latter are easy to find online, I've not found Projector's website).
The client will be using them, I believe, to track maintenance and other issues on their site (ie not software bugs).
Are there any good FOSS alternatives I should suggest to them or should I stay out of their way? I suspect that none of the off-the-shelf packages will do what they want and a FOSS option would make it easier to modify, but the other suggestion of building something from scratch will probably be a big uphill struggle unless it turns out they have very simple needs.
-- Mark Rogers // More Solutions Ltd (Peterborough Office) // 0845 45 89 555 Registered in England (0456 0902) at 13 Clarke Rd, Milton Keynes, MK1 1LG
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Mark Rogers mark@quarella.co.uk wrote:
The client will be using them, I believe, to track maintenance and other issues on their site (ie not software bugs).
Are there any good FOSS alternatives I should suggest to them or should I stay out of their way? [...]
We use RT to track all sorts of things and so do some of our suppliers, with quite a few custom fields. It doesn't help when hardware fails very close to a VAT rate change and building work - we still get busy ;-)
Regards,
MJ Ray wrote:
We use RT to track all sorts of things and so do some of our suppliers, with quite a few custom fields.
I'll install RT and give it a whirl for our own internal use and see how far I get.
Is apt-get install request-tracker3.6 a good place to start (I note the current release is 3.8.1) or should I download from bestpractical.com?
It doesn't help when hardware fails very close to a VAT rate change and building work - we still get busy ;-)
The VAT changes have been a pain for us too.
Something a client has picked up on now is that we're not rounding VAT correctly on one site (nothing has changed except the rate so it was wrong before if it's wrong now). It's always the case that simple things have wider reaching consequences :-(
Mark Rogers mark@quarella.co.uk wrote:
Is apt-get install request-tracker3.6 a good place to start (I note the current release is 3.8.1) or should I download from bestpractical.com?
I believe we're using the request-tracker3.6 but I'd check the news for 3.8 to see if there's something you really want. I don't know how easy it is to set up because someone else manages it - he doesn't bill much time for it, though.
The VAT changes have been a pain for us too.
I've seen forecasts that the costs of the two VAT changes in just over two years will exceed the profits of increased spending, but we don't have two realities to run in parallel, so I guess we'll never *really* know whether it worked or not - the perfect politician's policy change.
On Wed, 03 Dec 2008 13:27:23 +0000, mark@quarella.co.uk said:
Is apt-get install request-tracker3.6 a good place to start
Yes, and then follow the instructions in /usr/share/doc/request-tracker3.6. There are lots of dependencies for RT, so I'd strongly advise setting it up via aptitude the first time. Installing from source isn't hard, but it is hardER.
We use RT extensively: very flexible. The wiki at the Best Practical site is good if you want to make changes; so is the book.
Hope that helps - Keith
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