0-9, high ascii
.htaccess
Apache web server, and other NCSA-compliant web servers,
observe the convention of using files in directories called
.htaccess
to restrict access to certain files. In Bugzilla, they are used
to keep secret files which would otherwise
compromise your installation - e.g. the
localconfig
file contains the password to your database. If this information were
generally available, and remote access to your database turned on,
you risk corruption of your database by computer criminals or the
curious.
A
Apache
In this context, Apache is the web server most commonly used
for serving up
Bugzilla
pages. Contrary to popular belief, the apache web server has nothing
to do with the ancient and noble Native American tribe, but instead
derived its name from the fact that it was
a patchy
version of the original
NCSA
world-wide-web server.
B
Bug
A
Bug
in Bugzilla refers to an issue entered into the database which has an
associated number, assignments, comments, etc. Some also refer to a
tickets
or
issues
;
in the context of Bugzilla, they are synonymous.
Bug Number
Each Bugzilla Bug is assigned a number that uniquely identifies
that Bug. The Bug associated with a Bug Number can be pulled up via a
query, or easily from the very front page by typing the number in the
"Find" box.
Bug Life Cycle
A Bug has stages through which it must pass before becoming a
closed bug
,
including acceptance, resolution, and verification. The
Bug Life Cycle
is moderately flexible according to the needs of the organization
using it, though.
Bugzilla
Bugzilla is the industry-standard bug tracking system. It is
quite popular among Open Source enthusiasts.
Component
A Component is a subsection of a Product. It should be a narrow
category, tailored to your organization. All Products must contain at
least one Component (and, as a matter of fact, creating a Product
with no Components will create an error in Bugzilla).
CPAN
CPAN
stands for the
Comprehensive Perl Archive Network
. CPAN maintains a large number of extremely useful
Perl
modules. By themselves, Perl modules generally do nothing, but when
used as part of a larger program, they provide much-needed algorithms
and functionality.
D
daemon
A daemon is a computer program which runs in the background. In
general, most daemons are started at boot time via System V init
scripts, or through RC scripts on BSD-based systems.
mysqld,
the MySQL server, and
apache,
a web server, are generally run as daemons.
Groups
The word
Groups
has a very special meaning to Bugzilla. Bugzilla's main security
mechanism comes by lumping users into groups, and assigning those
groups certain privileges to
Products
and
Components
in the
Bugzilla
database.
I
Infinite Loop
A loop of information that never ends; see recursion.
M
mysqld
mysqld is the name of the
daemon
for the MySQL database. In general, it is invoked automatically
through the use of the System V init scripts on GNU/Linux and
AT&T System V-based systems, such as Solaris and HP/UX, or
through the RC scripts on BSD-based systems.
P
Product
A Product is a broad category of types of bugs. In general,
there are several Components to a Product. A Product may also define a
group (used for security) for all bugs entered into
components beneath it.
Perl
First written by Larry Wall, Perl is a remarkable program
language. It has the benefits of the flexibility of an interpreted
scripting language (such as shell script), combined with the speed
and power of a compiled language, such as C.
Bugzilla
is maintained in Perl.
Q
QA
QA
,
Q/A
, and
Q.A.
are short for
Quality Assurance
.
In most large software development organizations, there is a team
devoted to ensuring the product meets minimum standards before
shipping. This team will also generally want to track the progress of
bugs over their life cycle, thus the need for the
QA Contact
field in a Bug.
R
Recursion
The property of a function looking back at itself for
something.
GNU
, for instance, stands for
GNU's Not UNIX
,
thus recursing upon itself for definition. For further clarity, see
Infinite Loop.
S
SGML
SGML
stands for
Standard Generalized Markup Language
.
Created in the 1980's to provide an extensible means to maintain
documentation based upon content instead of presentation,
SGML
has withstood the test of time as a robust, powerful language.
XML
is the
baby brother
of SGML; any valid
XML
document it, by definition, a valid
SGML
document. The document you are reading is written and maintained in
SGML,
and is also valid
XML
if you modify the Document Type Definition.
T
Target Milestone
Target Milestones are Product goals. They are configurable on a
per-Product basis. Most software development houses have a concept of
milestones
where the people funding a project expect certain functionality on
certain dates. Bugzilla facilitates meeting these milestones by
giving you the ability to declare by which milestone a bug will be
fixed, or an enhancement will be implemented.
Z
Zarro Boogs Found
This is the cryptic response sent by Bugzilla when a query
returned no results. It is just a goofy way of saying "Zero Bugs
Found".