Bugzilla facts for kids
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Buggie, the mascot of Bugzilla
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Bugzilla in action on
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| Original author(s) | Terry Weissman |
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| Developer(s) | Mozilla Foundation |
| Initial release | August 26, 1998 |
| Stable release | |
| Preview release | 5.1.2 (February 16, 2018 ) |
| Written in | Perl |
| Operating system | Cross-platform |
| Available in | Multiple languages |
| Type | Bug tracking system |
| License | Mozilla Public License |
Bugzilla is a special computer program that helps people find and keep track of "bugs" in other computer programs. Think of it like a detective's notebook for software problems! It works on the internet, so you can use it from anywhere.
Bugzilla was first made by the Mozilla project, which also created the Firefox web browser. It's an open-source tool, meaning its code is free for anyone to use and improve. Many big companies and projects use Bugzilla. These include the Mozilla Foundation, Linux kernel, KDE, and LibreOffice. It helps them make their software better by finding and fixing issues.
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How Bugzilla Started
Bugzilla was created in 1998 by a person named Terry Weissman. He made it for the early Mozilla.org project. The goal was to replace an old system Netscape Communications used to track problems in their software.
Bugzilla was first written in a computer language called Tcl. But Terry Weissman decided to change it to Perl. He hoped more people would be able to help improve it, as Perl was very popular then.
The first public version, Bugzilla 2.0, came out after this change. Later, Tara Hernandez took over the project in 2000. She helped make Bugzilla a community project, with many people helping to develop it. In 2001, Dave Miller became the project leader.
Over the years, Bugzilla has had many updates. Version 3.0 came out in 2007 with a new look and more features. Versions 4.0 and 5.0 followed in 2011 and 2015, adding even more improvements.
What Bugzilla Needs to Run
To use Bugzilla, a computer system needs a few things:
- A database to store all the bug information.
- A specific version of the Perl programming language.
- Other small programs called Perl modules.
- A web server to show Bugzilla on the internet.
- A way to send emails, like an SMTP server.
Bugzilla works with popular databases like MariaDB and MySQL. It's often set up on Linux computers using the Apache HTTP Server. But it can work with other web servers too. Installing Bugzilla involves following steps from a command line, which checks if everything is ready.
What Bugzilla is Designed For
Bugzilla is made to track problems in software. Its creators decided to keep it focused on this main job. While it could possibly be used for other things, like managing tasks, its main purpose is to help fix software defects.
"Zarro Boogs" Explained
When you search for bugs in Bugzilla and find nothing, it doesn't say "0 bugs found." Instead, it says "zarro boogs found." This is a funny way of saying "zero bugs." It's meant to be a little joke!
Terry Weissman, one of the early developers, explained why they did this. He said that when Netscape released their 4.0 browser, they had a party. T-shirts were given out that said "Netscape 4.0: Zarro Boogs." This was a joke because even though they tried to fix all bugs, some always remain. So, "zarro boogs" is a reminder that even if no bugs show up in the system, there might still be some hidden ones!
What "WONTFIX" Means
Sometimes, you might see a bug labeled "WONTFIX" in Bugzilla. This means that even though a problem was found and confirmed, it won't be fixed. There are different reasons for this. Maybe fixing it would be too difficult, too expensive, or could cause new problems. It's a way to say, "We know about this, but we're not going to fix it right now."
See also
In Spanish: Bugzilla para niños
- Comparison of issue-tracking systems
- List of computing mascots
- Category:Computing mascots
