Ernies Tech Thoughts

I have begun the search for a software app to manage project tracking and collaboration. It will need to be browser based so I can have it used internally and externally for Aura Media. Using PHP as the scripting language is the preference as that is what I am most comfortable with, but I am not against a solution that used Python or Ruby. The last requirement is a free and open source license.

In the past I have been a happy Mantis user for bug and issue tracking. So much that I have installed it in a few client sites. However now I want a broader product that includes time tracking and more collaboration features. Also Mantis is showing its age in a visual sense, and this can put off less technical users. Project tracking is the aim, not project planning with features like gannt charts.

In the past I did look at ActiveCollab, but they changed their license, and Streber, but it was immature and moving in a more wiki direction.

My current investigation lisr is:

• ProjectPier (activecollab fork)
• the terribly named OpenGoo (another activecollab fork)
• Redmine (RoR based)

Open to any other suggestions.

The other day I had a whinge about WP security updates & releases. This post was written after I had just spent valuable time updated a number of WP sites I maintain.
Now I have that out of my system here are the reasons I use WP more and more:

• Not just a blog tool, but a legitimate small-medium CMS
• Large and knowledgeable support community
• A huge and vibrant community of themes and plugins
• FOSS (Free and Open Source Software) all the way

I have recently moved 2 more sites to WP, and both are better for it:

• Girraween Athletics from Joomla
• devReview from custom code

When I next need to put together a site with content management type capabilities I will likely use WP again over alternatives I have tried.

As I talk to clients about their software needs, some are suprised there is another way to get software than shrink wrapped vendor supplied. I sat down and put together a small paper on how free and open source (FOSS) software can be a better alternative in many cases, and especially for smaller organisations. It is in pdf (90Kb) .

Anyone who has searched through the massive list of projects at Sourceforge and other places will know they are full of interesting ideas that never got off the ground, or stall after a couple of releases. And it is not an outrageous statement that a group of developers with all the required technical skills does not necessarily make a successful project, especially when the target audience are not fellow developers. At the same time FOSS (Free and Open Source Software) has the ability to draw on such a diverse range of people in both background and abilities and the potential is enormous when properly harnessed and directed.

Through a link on a link I came upon the site for the book ‘Producing Open Source Software’: producingoss.com. I looked at the style of the first few pages and the authors name and it immediately made me think Subversion. This turned out to be true as Karl is an integral part of the project team and a few other well known projects. I have been impressed with the Subversion project from the outside, and we use it for all our source control, so in my opinion he is extremely qualified to write such a book.

The subtitle ‘How to Run a Successful Free Software Project’ gives the real crux of the book. Karl gives a lot of very useful ideas and tips on how to give a project the best chance of success in areas such as:

• Internal and external communication
• Project management style
• Release possibilities
• Licensing issues

From my experience with FOSS projects, the chapter on Communications is the minimum that anyone involved in such projects should read and he states ‘…[the] ability to write clearly is perhaps the most important skill one can have in an open source environment.’ (p. 84). He goes on to discuss writing style, content and how to keep discussion as productive as possible. The subsection ‘Avoid Holy Wars’ will ring bells from too many FOSS projects.

Chapter 8 on ‘Managing Volunteers’ is another essential topic, and an area where a project can quickly fall down if the team are strictly developers without a management bent. It is easier to lose a volunteer than get them in the first place, so treating them well in task assignment, appropriate permissions and sub system control is essential. He then moves on to the always thorny issue of forks both from the viewpoint of one from your project or being the person to fork an existing project.

All up there are 181 pages over 9 chapters and appendixes with links to various ‘free software’ version control systems and issue/bug trackers, and example bug reports. The writing style is easy to read and he draws on real world examples (with an expected bias to Subversion), so you can see how the ideas fit into a real life and sizeable project. He doesn’t get dogmatic or preach, it is jusr a good collection of advice from someone who has plenty of experience in the area. Criticisms - maybe an extra chapter on what has made some of the better known FOSS projects the success they are could have rounded off the book, but you can’t have everything.

I recommend this book to anyone already involved or considering becoming part of a FOSS project to give this book a read. The FOSS community needs this kind of book alongside all the code that is being written. A little reading now can only help smooth the process, and give any project a greater chance of success.

The web site has versions in html, pdf, rocketbook and XML source and a link to purchase the hard copy version from the publishers O’Reilly.