27/10/2014

Top 5 open source project management tools in 2014 | Opensource.com

Top 5 open source project management tools

in 2014
Top 5 open source project management tools in 2014

Last year, Opensource.com covered some popular open source project management
tools (ProjectLibre, ]project-open[, and OpenProject.) We found these articles to be
valuable to our readers, so here we take a look forward at what we think 2014 holds
for these open source project management tools.
This is by no means an exhaustive list, but each tool listed here has been deliberately
selected based on a rich feature set.

ProjectLibre
In our interview[1] with Marc OBrien, co-founder of ProjectLibre[2], we featured a
tool with support for task management, resource allocation, tracking, Gantt charts,
and much more. ProjectLibre is a good alternative to a commercial software product
like Microsoft Project.
In December 2013, ProjectLibre released version 1.5.8, and a full rewrite of the
codebase towards an Open Services Gateway Initiative (OSGI) modular architecture is
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ongoing. This will allow connector modules for better integration with enterprise
solutions such as Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP).
ProjectLibre is a Java based client tool. During their 2014 Q1 this year, they will
release version 2.0. It is not clear yet when the SaaS version will become available.
ProjectLibre was awarded InfoWorld's "Best of Open Source" in 2013 and ranks in my
personal top 3 favorite open source project management tools.

LibrePlan
LibrePlan[3] is a web based application, making project management available to not
just the project manager, but the entire project team, and if necessary across
organisations. LibrePlan is licensed under the AGPL[4]. This is another full featured
tool supporting resource allocation, Gantt charts, financials, and more. These
features coupled with a web based application make LibrePlan a great collaboration
platform.
LibrePlan ranks in my personal top 3 favorite open source project management tools
because of its modern design and balanced user interface, as well as, good and
complete documentation, built in reporting, and professional support.
View all of the features on this page[5].
I did not note any newly released features or version release dates for 2014.

OpenProject
"Team collaboration redesigned" is how we introduced our interview[6] with Birthe
Lindenthal, Chairperson of the OpenProject[7] Foundation's Board of Directors.
OpenProject is released under the GNU General Public License Version 3 and runs on
Ruby on Rails. I happen to agree with their tagline that this tool has "everything you
need for collaboration" to support the entire project life cycle. There are two big
features that deserve to be highlighted: OpenProject supports Accessibility[8] and a
Scrum plugin supporting Agile methods[9] and Scrum teams.
OpenProject is currently working on a major upgrade ready for release during 2014
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Q1. Version 3.0 will support Ruby 2.0 and Rails 3.2. See their full roadmap here.
OpenProject ranks in my personal top 3 favorite open source project management
tools because of their user interface, documentation, and rich feature set.

]project-open[
In our interview[10] with Frank Bergmann, founder of ]project-open[[11], he gave
readers insight into what this tool, ]po[ for short, is meant to do:
"We're not dealing with individual project managers, but focus on organizations
with 10 - 1,000 users that earn their money by executing projects."
]po[ is said to be used by over 6,000 companies worldwide. A full installation is based
on over 100 open source packages including a Linux distro, Postgre SQL, TCL as its
main language, Perl for system integration, and many more. It supports integration
with 30+ packages such as OpenLDAP, OpenOffice, ProjectLibre, and others.
]po[ is an enterprise project management tool with many features[12], including
support for Agile. The software is released under a mixed source model[13], or a "dual
license", meaning that at its core it is open source, with additional modules released
under a commercial license. ]po[ runs as client software on both Windows and Linux,
depending on a stack[14] of open source packages.
In 2014, ]po[ hopes to release version 4.2 which will bring a full AJAX GUI,
integration between collaboration features and project management, and more[15].

Redmine
Redmine[16] is a web-based project management tool that I actively use. It's
powerful, runs on Ruby and Rails, and is licensed under GNU General Public License
v2 (GPL).
Where it lacks enterprise features, compared with the other project management
tools I've mentioned above, it has strong web applications. Along with basic project
management features, this Redmine includes a wiki, repository, and issue tracker.
View the full feature list here[17].
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Redmine also has an advantage in access: it is available to project managers, other

team members, as well as, the clients.
In 2014, the Redmine roadmap[18] shows a steady flow of releases that continue to
improve the quality of the tool.

BONUS TOOL: Agilefant

Agilefant[19], as its name implies, is based on Agile methods. However, this open
source project management tool also supports product portfolios, projects, sprints,
and multi-team development. See the full feature set in the Agilefant user guide[20].
Agilefant offers a free and open source[21] product that can be downloaded and
deployed into your own private cloud. They also offer a SaaS solution. In 2014, they
will add a paid service.
Agilefant runs on Java, Tomcat, and MySQL. The source code and license can be
found on GitHub[22].
Share your favorite open source project management tool with us in the
comments below.
1. http://opensource.com/business/13/5/projectlibre-microsoft-project
2. http://www.projectlibre.org/
3. http://www.libreplan.com/
4. http://www.gnu.org/licenses/agpl.html
5. http://www.libreplan.com/features/
6. http://opensource.com/business/13/9/openproject-interview
7. https://www.openproject.org/
8. https://www.openproject.org/projects/openproject/wiki/News_Accessibility_workshop_for_OpenProject
9. https://www.openproject.org/projects/openproject/wiki/Agile_Teams
10. http://opensource.com/business/13/5/open-project-interview
11. http://www.project-open.com/
12. http://www.project-open.com/en/solutions/enterprise-project-management/index.html
13. http://www.project-open.org/en/project_open_license
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14. http://www.project-open.org/en/project_open_architecture
15. http://www.project-open.org/en/project_open_roadmap
16. http://www.redmine.org/
17. http://www.redmine.org/projects/redmine/wiki/Features
18. http://www.redmine.org/projects/redmine/roadmap
19. http://agilefant.com/
20. http://agilefant.com/support/user-guide/
21. http://agilefant.com/open-source/
22. https://github.com/Agilefant/agilefant/wiki

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