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

On Thu, Dec 10, 2009 at 5:17 PM, Eli Barzilay <eli at barzilay.org> wrote:
> On Dec 10, Sam TH wrote:
>> On Thu, Dec 10, 2009 at 4:47 PM, Eli Barzilay <eli at barzilay.org> wrote:
>> > * Can it do what gnats is doing?  Specifically,
>> >  - the nag thing,
>>
>> I don't know, but is it that important?
>
> Important enough to make me do it.

How did we decide that it's important?  Are some people using that
email to prioritize work, or remind themselves of things?

>> I just ignore that email.
>
> ...and there's nothing like such sentences to make you feel good about
> slaving on such features.

The whole point of this would be for you not to have to slave over
such features.

>> > * 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
>
> Did you try to estimate how much work it is to convert the current DB?

I don't have the current DB.

>> > * 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/
>
> So everyone will need to have a launchpad account?

Everyone that wants to edit the bug database.

>> > * 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.
>
> You mean request some human or some automated way?

>From some human.

>> > * 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).
>
> SF is also used by lots of free software projects, yet it has a
> horrible interface, and it's excruciatingly slow.

Fortunately, Launchpad has neither of those problems.  Which is why
lots of projects are migrating *to* it *from* SourceForge.  Also, I
know of no commercial ventures using SourceForge, but Canonical uses
Launchpad themselves.

-- 
sam th
samth at ccs.neu.edu