Project management to go with GitHub [closed]

Question

(EDIT: This question is now outdated for my particular issue, as Google Code supports git now and I've converted Protocol Buffers to Mercurial anyway. However, it's still of general interest, IMO.)

My C# Protocol Buffers Port uses github for its source control, and I'm beginning to really enjoy using git. However, as far as I can tell, github doesn't provide any project management tools: defect and feature tracking, discussions, feature requests, docs etc. Given my affiliations, Google Code would be a natural choice, but it would seem odd to create a project there but host the source on github.

This question about Fogbugz/Assembla seems to mostly focus on the defect tracking. I was wondering what experiences others have had when it comes to a more "complete" project management solution. Does Fogbugz actually do everything I need? (Using a wiki for docs has its advantages, although I also want to be able to distribute documentation with the code.) Beyond the explicit features mentioned in the first paragraph, are there other project aspects I should be considering which I may have missed?

This will definitely stay an open source project, and although I'd rather not pay I don't mind if a small fee is required. Currently I'm the only developer, but that may change and there may very well be lots of people filing bugs and feature requests. (In other words, I hope and expect it to be popular, but with me doing most of the work.)

Previously I've contributed to various open source projects, but haven't done much in the way of running a very visible and active one. (MiscUtil is currently still "hosted" on my website, with occasional releases - the actual source control is on my local NAS.)

Anyone care to share their experiences?

EDIT: Another option I'm now considering is a Google Code project (I really would like to be loyal to my employer) and an occasional merge from git to svn (at the very least, every time I do a release). This would allow non-git users to get hold of the source easily too.

Answer 1

If you're thinking that you'll really be the only developer, Fogbugz will help you keep your sanity. Fogbugz is a great product, It builds focused communications and can turn anything into a case (issue). It does all that as well as any system I've seen.

But its orientation is commercial -- efficient communication between users and tech support, improve reliability of schedules, focus & prioritize what's being worked on, separate internal & external discussions, some good reporting to track that things are getting handled. (About the only criticism I can think of is it doesn't do case blocking and dependency tracking, which is really useful for those bugs buried deep.)

Little of this feature set will help you build an active open source project, with open lively communication and the need build a community and have users evolve into developers as the project grows. So if that's where you want to end up, you may really want the less focused communication channels of one of these lightweight tracking systems.

I haven't used Google Code on a project yet, but in terms of transparent & open communication, it looks like a good support for an active open source project. Plus you already know it. If you want to grow the involvement in your project, Google code looks like the way to go.