Dec 2, 2004 / TargetProcess under open source license?
10 comments
I'll share some thoughts about TargetProcess future here. The existing version is free for now (don't worry, it will be always free :), but it is planned to release next version as a commercial product. We just should make some money to survive.
I like open source. And the commercial release will be shipped with source code. But I wonder if the free "light" version could be released under an open source license. Will anyone improve the system? How much effort additional coordination will take? Will anyone buy commercial version while there is already free edition that could be improved? As you could see, I have some doubts.
What do you think? I am especially interested in whether anyone wants to make some improvements? There is a chance that TargetProcess will turn to an open source project, but I am not sure for now. Post your comments to influence my opinion.
10 Comments:
I would like to contribute to an open source effort. One of the first enhancement I can think of is to replace the User Story Description Text Box with a Rich Text Editor (maybe www.freetextbox.com). Also, there were some refinements to be made with focus handling while entering User Stories.
I would also like to see something where a developer can track actual hours spent on a story.
Fine. One vote for open source!
Rich Text Edit is already implemented. It will appear in new release. Time Tracking is also planned for the new release, but its implementation is not started yet.
This is great! But my companions do not very enthusiastic about open source for now. I've checked sugarCRM and it seems a very good example of commercial open source.
I think we will release next version and than make a decision about open source.
Thank you for suggestion!
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I personally am a big fan of Open Source software - not because of the cost issue, but because of the way I want to consume software. I do not want to be sold to, I want to be able to evaluate products without time restrictions (I am busy. Too busy to keep track of the expiry date of a piece of software I'm playing with), and with full sight of the product - not some limited subset.
Having said that, I think many projects which have gone "Open Source" are not getting a huge amount of community support. In addition, the skills required to manage an Open Source initiative are subtly but vitally diferent to those required to manage a project internally - personalities, politics and the level of commitment are all different.
For me, the answer is - if you release Target Process as Open Source, it would make me happy. If I feel the need to scratch an itch (time tracking is a big itch, and the main reason we've decided not to use TP) I would be happy to contribute my code back to the project, but I don't think I can commit to much more.
We are currently looking for an agile tool. We've looked at Rally and VersionOne. For us, the most important thing is to have a piece of software that is simple and reliable - it must work all the time as this becomes mission critical.
Having source code availabe in a reasonably priced product is fine for us if it means that the developers can and will continue to improve it. We'd like to spend our coding hours working on the software we sell and not having to work on our tools.
Some improvements: is it worthwile to have tasks subordinate to stories, and also to add the developer feedback for actual time to complete the task?
I would like to help making TagetProcess even better. I am an experienced .NET developer and a current user of TargetProcess but we are currently considering swicthing to VersionOne:XP because the lack of permission control.
BTW: Foolish that non Blogger users cannot comment without being Anonymous.
Lars Buur (lars_REMOVE_ME_@hubia.dk)
>I would like to help making TagetProcess even better.
There are already several people who want to help with TargetProcess development. It really surprises me, I didn't expect such an interest...
This is great! But as I've already mentioned, the final decision will be taken after the next release (at the end of January or so). However, your proposals affected my opinion and I am more confident in making TP an open source product.
>I am an experienced .NET developer and a current user of TargetProcess but we are currently considering swicthing to VersionOne:XP because the lack of permission control.
Could you explain why permission control is required? I believe that permissions are not very good idea for agile teams (any tool will not help team without trust). But maybe I am missing a point...
- Could you explain why permission control is required?
- I believe that permissions are not very good idea for
- agile teams (any tool will not help team without
- trust). But maybe I am missing a point...
Maybe permissions control is not the correct term. My problem (and others I suspect) is that I would like to have multiple projects with different customers running in one system and on one server. When I make a customer part of a team on one project then the customer can access all the other projects and maybe get access to information that should be disclosed.
Kind regards
Lars Buur
>>When I make a customer part of a team on one project then the customer can access all the other projects and maybe get access to information that should be disclosed.
Yes, this is very helpful feature. It will be implemented in the next release (this month).
Thanks for the suggestion!
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