[plt-dev] Re: launchpad instead of gnats?

On Thu, Dec 10, 2009 at 4:47 PM, Eli Barzilay <eli at barzilay.org> wrote:
> On Dec 10, Robby Findler wrote:
>> [ I've talked a little bit with Sam about this already -- this message
>> is intended to restart the discussion w/ a wider audience. ]
>>
>> Eli, Sam: what do you guys think about using launchpad to do our bug
>> tracking work, instead of gnats?
>>
>> I see the two main advantages: a) it is easier to work with and should
>> help us keep track of our bug reports more effectively and b) someone
>> else (not us!) runs the site.
>
> Questions to consider:
>
> * Can it do what gnats is doing?  Specifically,
>  - the nag thing,

I don't know, but is it that important?  I just ignore that email.

>  - an email for new bug notifications,

Yes.

>  - an email for bug discussions,

Yes.

>  - responsible person (= email) that defaults to the "everybody" email
>    and can change later to the specific person who deals with it,

Yes.

>  - being able to have "write access" for people who need to have it

Yes.

> * How much work is involved in migrating the current DB over?  (It's
>  big.)

They have an XML import format.  You can see the spec here:
https://help.launchpad.net/Bugs/ImportFormat

> * How much work is involved in having users set up?  (Ideally, a
>  single upload of a list of emails would be good; worst is when
>  that's not possible *and* everyone needs to register individually
>  with launchpad.)

Here's an example of how this was done:
http://blogs.gnome.org/jamesh/2007/11/28/inkscape-migrated-to-launchpad/

(Although the blog post also features people complaining that it's not
free software, that has changed since.)

> * Is it possible to download all the bugs back from them?  (In case
>  that's needed -- for example, you needed it once, IIRC.)

That blog post mentions that they provide XML dumps on request.

> * How reliable are they?

More reliable than we can be by ourselves.  They're used by lots of
free software projects, as well as by Ubuntu itself (for source
control, translations and other things as well as bug tracking).

-- 
sam th
samth at ccs.neu.edu