Open source Bug tracking systems

All IT projects needs a bug tracking (or issue tracking, or defect tracking) system.

Sure, we need a bug tracking system for a software development project. But, what about a sysadmin team, dba team, network team? They all need some help to track their work, and issues of their system, database and network.

I've listed 10 open source bug tracking systems, that you can experiment, and choose based on your taste and requirement. This is not a comprehensive list by any means. I've used all the systems listed in the top 5, and I strongly recommend that you choose one from the top 5 list.

I love bugzilla, and have been using it for several years. If you don't have time to play around with multiple systems to figure-out which one you like, just go with Bugzilla.

What is your favorite bug tracking system?Leave a comment and let me know.

1. Bugzilla

Are you looking for a stable, actively maintained, widely adapted bug tracking system? Look no further. Bugzilla is for you.

This is used by various big open source projects to track their bugs. For example, Linux kernel development team, Apache development team, GNOME development team uses bugzilla. Red Hat also uses bugzilla to track the issues found in Red Hat Distribution system.

Bugzilla is written in Perl, and works on various databases including MySQL and Oracle. This step-by-step instruction guide onhow to install bugzilla will get you started.

Bugzilla Features:

Time trackingPrivate attachment and commentingFlexible reporting and charting. Including ability to to scheduled reports and receive it via email.Add custom fields and workflows.View full list of features here.

Additional Info:

Home Page: http://www.bugzilla.orgDeveloped by: Mozilla foundationStable Release: 3.6.1License: Mozilla public license

2. Mantis

Mantis issue tracking system is written in PHP, and works on various databases including MySQL, MS SQL, PostgreSQL.

Mantis Features:

Source code integrationTime trackingIssue relationship graphCustom fields and workflowAnonymous accessView full list of features here.

Additional Info:

Home Page: http://www.mantisbt.orgStable Release: 1.2.2License: GNU v2

3. Trac

Trac is written in Python. Apart from issue tracking, it also provides wiki, and integration to subversion. The web interface is very simplistic and easy to use. This also provides project management features including roadmap and milestone tracking.

Home Page: http://trac.edgewall.org/Stable Release: 0.12License: BSD

4. Redmine

Redmine is written in Ruby on Rails. Apart from tracking issues, it provides a full project management features.

Redmine Features:

Project management including Gantt chartProject WikiTime TrackingLDAP AuthenticationView full list of features here.

Additional Info:

Home Page: http://www.redmine.org/Stable Release: 1.0.1License: GNU v2

5. Request Tracker

RT is written in Perl. Apart from the standard issue management, you can use this as a ticket tracking system. RT Features:

Time tracking and reportingIntegrate with LDAP authenticationView full list of features here.

Additional Info:

Home Page: http://bestpractical.com/rt/Stable Release: 3.8.8License: GPL v2

6. OTRS

OTRS bug tracking software is written in Perl. OTRS has all standard defect tracking features that you would expect. View full list of features here.

Home Page: http://otrs.org/Stable Release: 2.4.7License: GPL

7. EventNum

This was developed by the MySQL team, and written in PHP. You can use this as a bug tracking tool, or issue tracking system. This provides all the basic features that you might expect in a tracking system.

Home Page:http://forge.mysql.com/wiki/Eventum/
Stable Release: 2.2
License: GPL

8. Fossil

Fossil is written in C, and uses SQLite database. Apart from bug tracking, it also provides Wiki. Installation is very straight forward, as it is a single executable that contains everything you need to get fossil up and running.

Home Page: http://www.fossil-scm.org
License: BSD

9. The Bug Genie

Bug genie is written in PHP. Provides a wizard based bug tracking software. It also integrates the openSearch functionality. Integrates with Subversion. You can develop your custom modules on top of bug genie.

Home Page: http://www.thebuggenie.com/
Stable Release: 2.1.1
License: MPL

10. WebIssues

WebIssue is written in PHP, and uses MySQL database for the server side. Everything in this top 10 list is web based bug tracking system except WebIssues. This is at number#10 because it doesn't provide a web-based interface. You need webissues client that runs on Windows, or Linux to access the server component.

Home Page: http://webissues.mimec.org/
Stable Release: 0.9.6
License: Open Source

Hidden Features of GOOGLE CHROME

contain experimental features, diagnostic tools and detailed statistics. They're hidden in Chrome's user interface, so you have to know they exist to find them. These hidden pages are Chrome's version of Firefox's about: pages.

You can access each by typing chrome://, followed by the name of the page — you can also use the more traditional about: prefix, which redirects you to the chrome:// URL.

Chrome://About

The chrome://about page lists all Chrome's internal pages. Click any of the links to access the page. Many of them are the same pages you can access from Chrome's menus — for example, chrome://bookmarks is the bookmarks manager and chrome://settings is Chrome's options page.

There are also a few special URLs for debugging purposes located near the bottom of the page — for example, you can enter chrome://kill in the address bar to kill the current tab.

Chrome://Flags

The chrome://flags page, formerly known as the chrome://labs page, is probably the most interesting internal page. This page contains a treasure trove of experimental features that aren't yet enabled by default — Google warns you that your browser may "spontaneously combust" if you enable these features. They may have security, privacy or stability problems or cause data loss. Use these options at your own risk!

New features often turn up here before they become enabled by default. For example, you can enable the "Enable NTP Bookmark Features" option to add the experimental bookmark interface to Chrome's new tab page. The new bookmark manager isn't enabled by default in Chrome 16, but it probably will be in a newer version. This feature has been removed from Chrome 17, which shows how quickly these flags can vanish or break.

Chrome://Sessions

Another feature buried on Chrome's chrome://flags page is the "Enable Syncing Open Tabs" option, which adds an "Open Tabs" option to Chrome's sync settings.

After you enable this option, you'll find a list of your other browser sessions on the chrome://sessions page. This feature will eventually be enabled by default and exposed in Chrome's user interface, but you can use it now.

Chrome://Memory & Chrome://Tasks

The chrome://memory page gives you a breakdown of Chrome's memory usage. It shows you just how much memory each extension, app and web page is using. If other browsers, such as Mozilla Firefox or Internet Explorer, are running, it'll also show the other browsers' memory usage.

This is the same page you can access by clicking the "Stats for nerds" link at the bottom of Chrome's Task Manager window. Open the Task Manager by right-clicking Chrome's title bar and selecting Task Manager or access the chrome://tasks URL to open it in a tab.

Chrome://Net-Internals

The chrome://net-internals page is packed full of network diagnostic information and tools. It can capture network data and dump it to a file, making it a useful tool for troubleshooting Chrome network problems.

Most of the tools here won't be useful to average users, but the Tests page contains a particularly useful tool. If a website won't load, you can plug its address into the Tests page and Chrome will attempt to determine the problem for you.

Chrome://Crashes

The chrome://crashes page lists crashes that have occurred. You'll only see crashes here if you have the "Automatically send usage statistics and crash reports to Google" option enabled on the Under the Hood tab in Chrome's settings.

Chrome://Tracing

The chrome://tracing page is a developer tool that allows you to analyze Chrome's performance. Click Record and Chrome will start logging browser activity.

After stopping the record process, you can dig into the activity and see what's taking up the most time. If you have a page that performs slowly in Chrome, you can see what part of your code Chrome is struggling with.

Many of the other pages are technical pages listing debug information. For example, the chrome://flash page lists information about the flash plug-in and the chrome://sync-internals page displays the state of Chrome's sync process. Feel free to explore the rest on your own