How To Track the Bug-Trackers?

schneecrash writes "Submitting bug reports — and waiting for responses etc. — seems to be SOP for developers and users alike, these days. Every project has some sort of bug-tracker — bugzilla, trac, mailing list, etc. E.g., we currently track 200+ external bugs across ~40 OSS projects. Half the bugs depend on something else getting fixed, first. Every bug has its own email thread, etc. Management asks 'How we doin' overall?,' and suddenly everyone involved gets to work removing dried gum from the bottom of their shoe. What do Slashdotters use/recommend for centrally keeping track of all the bugs you track across all those different bugtrackers? In particular, managing communications and dependencies across bugs? So far, the best method I've managed to use is bunches of PostIt-notes stuck to the screen of an out-of-commission 32" TV (glossy, non-matte screen, of course!)."

Recursive Bugtracking

[CompMD]

A Jira of Jiras.

Basket

[Tubal-Cain]

I have a nice wire-frame basket designated for bug reports, electric bills, fast food wrappers, and soda cans.

Mac user?

[EmbeddedJanitor]

Windows people use the recycling bin instead of the trash can.

Re:Mac user?

[redJag]

well, it is a wire-frame basket icon in OS X.. so maybe!

Re:Mac user?

[Anonymous Coward]

I first thought "Who cares?" but after seeing your nick, I understand why it is so important difference to you.

Post it notes on 32 inch TV

[theverylastperson]

I almost fell out of my chair. I literally have a 32" TV that is half covered in post it notes containing bug reports and other issues. Personally I find the TV method perfectly sufficient. I should also point out that the screen faces the door to my office, so it doubles as a mirror, thus I can see who's sneaking up on me. Multi-purpose tools are always the best.

Re:Recursive Bugtracking

[CompMD]

and if you use LDAP instead of Crowd for user management, then in the darkness it can in fact bind them.

Re:Internal

[lymond01]

"Once bugzilla implements the features in the next version and/or fixes bug #233412 and #455354, and Trac patches the rss feed problem, and...well, I just don't know how I'm going to keep track of all these bugfixes so I can get my bugfix tracking program working properly!"

Re:This is more or less what I do

[Bozzio]

Launchpad can also crash anything that flies (surviving the crash, of course).

(Mods, if you're too young to remember this, then DON'T MOD)

Re:Stick with the post-its

[darkpixel2k]

Seriously, I've found them to be the best method of issue tracking.

Your .NET program just crashed with a stack trace of a size that is only rivaled by Java. Please visit your postal clerk in a few days to pick up the extremely large package I sent (at considerable personal cost) containing 12,345 post-it notes.

Re:Simple...

[Onymous Coward]

a.k.a. "Look at my dick, it's enormous."

Re:This is more or less what I do

[cinderblock]

Quick, file a feature request ticket.

Re:Simple...

[Anonymous Coward]

Is that from the ReiserFS changelog?

Re:One giant Gantt Chart

[daveime]

a good manager will check your plans, then quietly observe as the experts 'do their thing' and occasionally inquires to the status (AKA can I help)?

How I wish ... in the real world, there are 4 levels of bug tracking that my boss uses.

Level 1 - An email entitled "can you fix this ?".

Level 2 - An email entitled "why isn't it fixed yet ?" (which arrives 15 minutes after the Level 1).

Level 3 - An email entitled "URGENT - fix it now !!!" (complete with red exclamation mark, which arrives about an hour after the Level 3).

Level 4 - An email entitled "It's taking too long, leave it, we'll live with it" (the closest I come to closing something out - usually about 2 days after the Level 3).