There is a new entry into the open source software code repository space: Google Code - Project Hosting. This will hopefully be a long awaited kick in the pants for Sourceforge.net which hosts many, many projects but can be difficult to find the cream of the crop, compare similar solutions and weed dead projects from the results.
Google Project Hosting Features:
The interface is clean, compact and concise. It is missing the abundant clutter that permeates Sourceforge and most programming tools. Avoiding "too many options" is something Google understands well.
Storage and Version Control
Google is offering 100 mb storage, and uses Subversion (currently kicking CVS' butt) for version control. Subversion access control is tied to your Google Account (using a password that is generated by Google).
Defect Tracking
It also includes a custom defect tracking system with fields for: Type, Status, Priority, Milestone, Owner, Summary + Labels. The defect tracker also lets you Star bugs to be notified of issue changes. I assume that it will be an email update, but upon testing with two Google Accounts I wasn't able to get bug notifications for either of them.
Status Values and Issue Labels for defects can be configured by the project administrator.
New = Issue has not had initial review yetAccepted = Problem reproduced / Need acknowledged
Started = Work on this issue has begun
Tagging Support (called Labels)
Each project can be tagged with various categories by the project adminstrator. Note that tagging will end up being pretty arbitrary unless there are some kind of moderators going around and cleaning it up to achieve a common folksonomy. Users can enter any labels they choose, although some are banned (like "google").
Creating Projects
Creating projects is simple and anyone with a Google Account can do it. All you need to do is enter a project name, summary, description and as many labels as your heart desires.
Project Administration
Once a project is created, the administrator can change the initial settings, add urls for links, discussion groups, and blogs as well as setting up an email notification for Subversion activity. The discussion group has to be a Google Groups.
The project can change settings for the defect system (mentioned above). S/he can also add/remove members or administrators.
There is an advanced option for deleting the project. It is unknown if the project name immediately becomes available again or if it is locked from re-use.
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