Helpdesk / Bug tracking software - opinions?

[mexicanjewlizrd]

Dear LazyWeb,
  I need a free, easy to use bug tracking program/software, specifically for a small helpdesk environment. Must be able to take email input and have easy to read/present reports (per tech).

After some sorting, reading and pondering, I have potentially narrowed down my choices to the following:

• Redmine - http://www.redmine.org
• Bugzilla

Comments

[justadecoy]

I'll start by saying I've never played with any of those 3 so I don't know how they compare to anything else.

Did you look at RequestTracker (http://bestpractical.com) ?

I installed and administer RT for JCY.
We don't do terribly in depth reports but the search builder in it is very logical so I am positive it would scale within the bounds of "small helpdesk environment"
Takes email input, allows for customization of queues and any kind of search you might be interested in can be turned into a queue or report.

[mexicanjewlizrd]

hmm, this one slipped by me. Seems to tick all the boxes for everything I need (email input, GPL, etc). Ideally, the system picked will also support mobile browsing too..

*reads more*

I have to admit, the more I read, the more I like this.

Mentioned on the FB cross-post of this, was JIRA [ http://www.atlassian.com/software/jira/ ] which seems quite good too.

[ext_5356]

JIRA is exceedingly good, but as you mentioned on FB, not free.

Of your list, Bugzilla is very powerful but has the unwieldiness of a powerful thing (tricky to set up, confusing for noob users, etc). I was never a fan of BugTracker.NET but that may just be an uninformed bias.

I do like Trac (http://trac.edgewall.org/) but I'm not sure how well it meets your email and reporting requirements -- there are plugins, but not fantastic ones.

[mexicanjewlizrd]

Trac: from what I've read, people like Trac, but it seems to always come in second to BugTracker.NET

Bugzilla: yep yep, looking like that's an accurate review.

[ext_2025]

http://roundup.sourceforge.net/