Re: bug tracking system

[Rahul Siddharthan <rsidd@xxxxxxxxx>]

"Simon 'corecode' Schubert" <corecode@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>On 05.09.2005, at 01:01, Peter Avalos wrote:
>>> <http://wiki.dragonflybsd.org/index.php/Bug_tracking_system>
>> Another to consider is jira.  It has a free license for open-source
>> projects.  I believe it answers 'yes' to each of those features on the
>> wiki page.  It's used by the apache project, as well as a buttload of
>> commercial entities.
>>
>> http://www.atlassian.com/software/jira/
>
>First I was negative wrt a non-open source tool.
>
>But now, having read the *excellent* documentation of jira (and the
>more or less good docs of the other systems), I have to say:
>
>My vote *clearly* goes, without any doubt, to jira.

Again, consider the Bitkeeper experience.  It was clearly ahead of the
crowd at the time (perhaps still is).  The linux people started to use
it.  Larry McVoy kept changing the terms of the "free" licence; Linus
was happy but others increasingly weren't.  Eventually Larry pulled
the plug and Linus went and wrote his own SCM.  (I'm sure I've
butchered the history but you can look up the exact story.)

Granted a bug-tracking system isn't as mission-critical as a SCM,
there are still questions:

1. Will there always be a free version?  What happens if the company
   folds up or is bought out?

2. Is the present free version usable for eternity?  Even if it is,
   what is the guarantee that it will be usable on a contemporary
   system in 5 years time?

3. How easy is it to migrate the database to a different SCM, if
   needed?

Rahul