bugs.debian.org and debbugs

debbugs, the bug tracking system that Debian uses on bugs.debian.org has been slowly undergoing changes to enable developers, users, and release managers to better track bugs that affect specific releases and versions of packages. Unfortunatly these additional features also bring an increased level of complexity: no longer are bugs merely open or closed, they can also be fixed or unfixed in specific architectures and distributions. The versioning system will be explained; both what it can do and what it can't, along with the adaptations maintainers need to make in their interaction with the BTS, and some new ways of determining why a bug is in the state that the BTS says it is.

Beyond versioning, suggested uses of usertags will be presented along with an introduction of a few of the newer features in the BTS, like the soap backend, full text searching of the BTS, per-bug subscriptions, and various subtle tweaks which have been made in the past two years.

Finally, some of the new feature enhancements that have been suggested for the BTS will be discussed including better statistics, better remote debbugs support, and an open discussion about new directions and features that Developers want to see in the BTS.