IssueTrackers

Free Issue and Bug Tracking Software

Thanks to all those who responded so quickly to my request for comments on issue trackers. I thought it would be useful to summarise responses, so here we go.

I already had tried these systems.

• RT3. Highly customizable Perl based tracker, but only if you use Perl. I found too much Perl customization was required to get it how I wanted it, and running mod_perl on a web server was a drag. See my RTWishList.
• Bugzilla. The "original" as far as I'm concerned, but have found it too heavyweight in UI terms for non-geek issue reporters. And, to be honest, for me too.

I received information about these free solutions.

• Roundup. Currently next on my list to play with. Got three responses. One was really positive. One sounded like they tried to adopt too early in Roundup's development. And another noted that they got performance problems when using Roundup's Berkeley DB backend.
• Trac. A new one to me, recommended by two separate correspondents. Integrates wiki, issue tracker and subversion repository view all in one. Looks very good for software development, but as I want to use a tracker for both support issues and software bugs, I'm not sure it's for me. I'll still try this out though.
• Mantis. Three people pointed this out to me as a good "lightweight Bugzilla".
• Midge. The result of what one company created when they found they didn't like any of the other trackers.
• Flyspray offers itself as a haven for people who found Bugzilla too complex. I like the sound of their Jabber notifications, that could work in a support context.
• ITracker. J2EE based, so not for me.
• Scarab. J2EE based. A young project, but looks as though it's going places.
• PloneCollector-NG would be a sensible choice if I had Plone deployed.
• Issue Tracker. Had several pointers to this with recommendations. Came out of Red Hat.
• ASP.NET Issue Tracker. Actually example ASP.NET code, so unsure of licensing.
• Whups. PHP-based, with web, interface and XML-RPC interface. Seems part of the larger Horde project, and restricted to the features needed by same.
• BATTS. Old-school command line and email tracker. Perl-based.
• EZ-Ticket. Early stage PHP/MySQL? system. Looks highly trouble-ticket oriented.
• GNATS. Another old-school style bug tracker. Written in C and very mature. Worth a look simply because it's been around so long, but I can't find evidence of deployment as broad as for some other well-known trackers. A correspondent tells me that FreeBSD uses GNATS.
• Eventum. Used and written by the MySQL? guys. I had two recommendations for this. A first glance shows a useful feature list and uncluttered interface. Has CVS integration.
• OpenPSA Support. Part of a suite of software for professional services organisations. Not suitable for software bug tracking, by the looks of it.
• BugTracker.NET is open source, but requires a Microsoft server setup on which to run.
• phpBugTracker aims to be a PHP-based rewrite of Bugzilla
• ZwikiTracker is a Zope-based issue tracker, integrating with Zwiki.
• IssueTrackerProduct is a more full-featured Zope-based issue tracker.
• OTRS is a trouble ticket system. It looks great and the interface is simple. Perl-based.
• BUGS - The Bug Genie is a capable yet still reasonably lightweight bug database that handles multiple products, builds, editions and milestones. Uses MySQL? and PHP.
• Willow Issue Tracker has both a GPL and a commercial version.
• Double Choco Latte has been around for a few years. Corey Stup wrote to me pointing it out, and commented "A nice complete package, although it focuses a bit too much on tracking the time assigned to tasks (for billing purposes, mostly) for us, but others may find it usable."
• Qiix is a "robust ticketing system designed for the small-to-medium sized enterprise" according to Fabio Daprile, who wrote to me. It's open source, based on Jakarta Turbine, has a web interface with an SQL backend. At a first glance, seems pretty full-featured.

I also learned of these commercial solutions, which aren't an option for me as I'd like to be able to modify the source if necessary, but might be useful to other folk.

• Jira. J2EE, which could be good or bad depending on what you're invested in. This looks a little heavyweight. Apparently provides source code once purchased. Lots of people have told me that this is a very good system, if you're a Java shop.
• FogBUGZ. Looks capable and well-integrated. The version control system integration is reminiscent of Trac.
• Deskzilla is a desktop interface to Bugzilla, which looks like it makes searching and exploring a lot easier.

From what I've heard so far, I'm going to take Roundup, Eventum, Issue Tracker and Trac and trial these more seriously. I'd rather not run separate systems for software bugs and support issues if possible, which may count against Trac.

Please email me with any updates or suggestions. I'll be updating this page with my experiences.