Fulcrum - Open Source Agile Project Management Tool(wholemeal.co.nz)
wholemeal.co.nz
Fulcrum - Open Source Agile Project Management Tool
http://wholemeal.co.nz/projects/fulcrum.html
9 comments
Very interesting discussion here. I was just developing a free PT clone too. We are and were using PT already as paying members.
But I started developing a clone in my sparetime just for fun. I didn't really like the look&feel of PT and I tried to improve that. Also we were missing a good timetracking part in PT too. And what came out is Planthat (Planth.at).
I would love to see some screenshots of Fulcrum. Is there any resource out there?
If you feel interested in our tool you may want to take a look at some screenshots here: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Planthat/187262291341546
But I started developing a clone in my sparetime just for fun. I didn't really like the look&feel of PT and I tried to improve that. Also we were missing a good timetracking part in PT too. And what came out is Planthat (Planth.at).
I would love to see some screenshots of Fulcrum. Is there any resource out there?
If you feel interested in our tool you may want to take a look at some screenshots here: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Planthat/187262291341546
There are screenshots at the originally posted link, http://wholemeal.co.nz/projects/fulcrum.html
So is there any instruction on how to install or try out this software project. I know Ruby on Rails is popular but at least some instruction on configuration would be helpful.
I think the most important think you must implement to have more adoption is to have an on-line (no registration required) demo of your software.
There's a good demo at http://pivotaltracker.com (registration required, though)
All joking aside, this project probably will appeal most to people already familiar with Pivotal Tracker, much like the Basecamp clones out there will appeal to people familiar with Basecamp, who either can't afford or don't want to pay for Basecamp. I don't think these kinds of projects really hurt Pivotal Labs or 37signals in any significant way, and can even help them in two ways: 1) having some competition to light a fire under their butts, and 2) often times when you use these FOSS clones you realize how much better and smoother the real versions are and go back.
All joking aside, this project probably will appeal most to people already familiar with Pivotal Tracker, much like the Basecamp clones out there will appeal to people familiar with Basecamp, who either can't afford or don't want to pay for Basecamp. I don't think these kinds of projects really hurt Pivotal Labs or 37signals in any significant way, and can even help them in two ways: 1) having some competition to light a fire under their butts, and 2) often times when you use these FOSS clones you realize how much better and smoother the real versions are and go back.
It looks very similar to a certain other online agile tool. How is it better, other than being open source?
The name 'fulcrum' is a word that brings to mind physical force... I think you meant it to bring to mind that you put a little effort in, and a lot of work gets done... But for me, the idea that force is needed at all seems like a negative.
The name 'fulcrum' is a word that brings to mind physical force... I think you meant it to bring to mind that you put a little effort in, and a lot of work gets done... But for me, the idea that force is needed at all seems like a negative.
It looks very similar to a certain other online agile tool. How is it better, other than being open source?
It does indeed, but the author isn't hiding that in any way. Here's what's on the page at Github:
Fulcrum is a clone of Pivotal Tracker. It will almost certainly never surpass the functionality, usability and sheer awesomeness of Pivotal Tracker, but aims to provide a usable alternative for users who require a Free and Open Source solution.
I think this looks pretty good - particularly because it's hosted and a lot of companies still need that today (a day doesn't go by when I don't get requests for hosted versions of the service I run).
It does indeed, but the author isn't hiding that in any way. Here's what's on the page at Github:
Fulcrum is a clone of Pivotal Tracker. It will almost certainly never surpass the functionality, usability and sheer awesomeness of Pivotal Tracker, but aims to provide a usable alternative for users who require a Free and Open Source solution.
I think this looks pretty good - particularly because it's hosted and a lot of companies still need that today (a day doesn't go by when I don't get requests for hosted versions of the service I run).
It most certainly isn't better, in fact I'd say it's considerably worse (as the author, I hope I can say that without recrimination!).
I like your interpretation of the name, a little effort gets a lot of work done. The meaning of the name is supposed to be a pun, i.e. a fulcrum is a pivot point.
I like your interpretation of the name, a little effort gets a lot of work done. The meaning of the name is supposed to be a pun, i.e. a fulcrum is a pivot point.
I don't think I'd feel comfortable using such a direct clone of someone else's software. From a cursory glance it doesn't seem that Fulcrum brings anything new to the table, so using it would make me feel like I was stealing from Pivotal.
Hopefully over time Fulcrum can differentiate itself and compete on features, not on price.
Hopefully over time Fulcrum can differentiate itself and compete on features, not on price.
Personally, it's worth $7/month for me not to have to set up and maintain some random early stage software, irregardless of any moral considerations.
That said, what's most interesting about this to me is how few of Pivotal Tracker's features I actually use. I mean, this basic version appears to mostly implement a drag and drop to-do list in a three pane view with n task states, comments, and descriptions. That's pretty much what I use Pivotal for in practice.
By contrast, Pivotal has all sorts of nonsense that I don't really understand, like burn down or burn up graphs or whatever.
Two questions:
(1) Are there features that Pivotal provides beyond the features that this skeletal clone provides that are really useful and that I should be aware of?
(2) Are there features that an agile project management system like Pivotal can provide that are hard to code and useful (i.e., differentiating) without increasing the overall complexity of the user interface?
That said, what's most interesting about this to me is how few of Pivotal Tracker's features I actually use. I mean, this basic version appears to mostly implement a drag and drop to-do list in a three pane view with n task states, comments, and descriptions. That's pretty much what I use Pivotal for in practice.
By contrast, Pivotal has all sorts of nonsense that I don't really understand, like burn down or burn up graphs or whatever.
Two questions:
(1) Are there features that Pivotal provides beyond the features that this skeletal clone provides that are really useful and that I should be aware of?
(2) Are there features that an agile project management system like Pivotal can provide that are hard to code and useful (i.e., differentiating) without increasing the overall complexity of the user interface?
Pivotal Tracker embodies a philosophy of sorts. It's surprisingly useful if you totally ignore that philosophy, but it's much better if you embrace it. Their help page https://www.pivotaltracker.com/help is a somewhat revealing, as they include FAQs that provide insight into the philosophy.
Maybe someone else has a better link to an overview or some kind of "ah-ha moment" story.
Maybe someone else has a better link to an overview or some kind of "ah-ha moment" story.
Stealing what?
Fulcrum developers had decided to implement FOSS self-hosted solution, comparable to Pivotal Tracker. They even wrote this clearly in project's README file. How that could be "stealing"?
Fulcrum developers had decided to implement FOSS self-hosted solution, comparable to Pivotal Tracker. They even wrote this clearly in project's README file. How that could be "stealing"?
Please read what I wrote more carefully. I didn't say that the the Fulcrum developers were stealing. I said that I would feel like I was stealing from the Pivotal developers by using a free clone instead of paying for the original. Since Fulcrum os (or appears to be) so similar to Pivotal I'd feel as if I was choosing it simply to avoid paying, and that isn't a feeling I'd like to have.
There definitely hasn't been an Open Source project similar to Pivotal Tracker and I am happy that somebody has finally taken the time to write one. I am sure, this will help many small companies like ours.
I've tried a couple of times to build a usable bug tracker (we actually use an inhouse bug tracker at our company), but this is a hard problem. It'd be great if the ruby community rallied around this and make it into the "goto bug tracker"
I've tried a couple of times to build a usable bug tracker (we actually use an inhouse bug tracker at our company), but this is a hard problem. It'd be great if the ruby community rallied around this and make it into the "goto bug tracker"
In case anyone wants to get fulcrum up and running under ruby 1.9 I've patched a couple issues in my pending pull request: https://github.com/malclocke/fulcrum/pull/5
- The project is most definitely not ready for prime time yet, and I hadn't intended to publicly launch until I have two more major features ready. Thank you NoSunlight for letting the cat out of the bag! - Those features are comments and iterations, which are both nearing completion. - In its present state, the project is probably only suitable for competent Rails / Backbone.js hackers. It will probably be usable in the near future, but not yet. If you need a working alternative, sign up to Pivotal Tracker, it is well worth it.
My motivation for creating this project was twofold. One, I love Pivotal Tracker, to a degree that is probably not healthy. I use it extensively and, crucially, I use it for estimating projects. I completely understand the move to a paid model for PT, but it would impact my way of working considerably and become one of my main expenses. Secondly, I was kind of intrigued by how hard it would be to implement an alternative to what is, in my opinion, one of the most impressive web applications I've ever used. It turns out it's very hard!
For those of you who find this project offensive or unsatisfactory in any way, I genuinely and sincerely implore you to continue using PT. It rocks!