GForge comes in two flavors: first, there's an open source version called GForge 4, available for downloading at http://gforge.org, and it is maintained by a community with frequent releases. There's also a closed-source version, called GForge Advanced Server (or GForge 5), which is maintained by the GForge Group, available at http://gforgegroup.com.
The major drawback of GForge 4 is its installation procedure. Since it involves several tools, they have to be installed separately and it can get a bit tedious. GForge 5 addresses this issue, and it provides a 3-step installer which is really simple to use and supports the most common Linux distributions (Red Hat, Cent OS, Ubuntu, SUSE). It automatically downloads and sets up all the required packages, and it can be up and running in no time.
At the core of GForge there's the tracker, which is an enhanced bug and task tracking tool. It is highly customizable, it lets you create all kinds of custom fields and rules to follow the project's needs. The tracker is tightly integrated with the source code repository (which can use several backends, like SVN, CVS, git, Perforce, etc.).
GForge automatically manages the code repositories so you don't have to configure anything. The best part is the ability to link the commits to the repository with the bugs and other items listed in the tracker tool, this way you can follow the status of every bug and review all the changes. You can also browse the repository and make diffs between the different revisions.
You can manage different versions of your software, and link the items in the tracker to each version. It also provides several reports and graphics on the history and the general status of the different versions.
GForge also integrates several tools like mailing lists, forums, wiki, jabber messaging, and LDAP. It even has a web services interface, so you can integrate it with your own tools.
My overall experience with GForge has been pretty good, I found GForge 5 quite easy to install and use and it has tons of features (many of which I haven't used yet). GForge Group seems responsive whenever I hit the occasional bug, so far I've found a couple of them and they have been fixed in a matter of days. So, if you're looking for a software development tool, I'd definitely recommend it!
Here are some related links:
- Open source version: http://gforge.org
- Enterprise Edition: http://gforge.com
- GForge Group's home page: http://gforgegroup.com
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