Bugzilla is a bug? or issue?tracking system. Bug?tracking systems allow individual or groups of developers effectively to keep track of outstanding problems with their product. Bugzilla was originally written by Terry Weissman in a programming language called TCL, to replace a rudimentary bug?tracking database used internally by Netscape Communications. Terry later ported Bugzilla to Perl from TCL, and in Perl it remains to this day. Most commercial defect?tracking software vendors at the time charged enormous licensing fees, and Bugzilla quickly became a favorite of the open?source crowd (with its genesis in the open?source browser project, Mozilla). It is now the de?facto standard defect?tracking system against which all others are measured.

Bugzilla boasts many advanced features. These include:
• Powerful searching
• User?configurable email notifications of bug changes
• Full change history
• Inter?bug dependency tracking and graphing
• Excellent attachment management
• Integrated, product?based, granular security schema
• Fully security?audited, and runs under Perl’s taint mode
• A robust, stable RDBMS back?end
• Web, XML, email and console interfaces
• Completely customisable and/or localisable web user interface
• Extensive configurability
• Smooth upgrade pathway between versions

Why Should We Use Bugzilla?
For many years, defect?tracking software has remained principally the domain of large software development houses. Even then, most shops never bothered with bug?tracking software, and instead simply relied on shared lists and email to monitor the status of defects. This procedure is error?prone and tends to cause those bugs judged least significant by developers to be dropped or ignored.

These days, many companies are finding that integrated defect?tracking systems reduce downtime, increase productivity, and raise customer satisfaction with their systems. Along with full disclosure, an open bug?tracker allows manufacturers to keep in touch with their clients and resellers, to communicate about problems effectively throughout the data management chain. Many corporations have also discovered that defect?tracking helps reduce costs by providing IT support accountability, telephone support knowledge bases, and a common, well?understood system for accounting for unusual system or software issues.

Download pdf The Bugzilla Guide ? 2.16.3 Release