"Nagarjuna G." nagarjun@hbcse.tifr.res.in said:

Sthitaprajna wrote:

...

If your friend is using MS Project properly, as in most features and

really

...

follows the PMBOK way or any other live project management process to schedule/log and monitor the projects, there is _no_ remotely

comparable

...

free tool. MRProject that runs on Unices is stunded. If he/she has a license for MS Project, then why not keep on using it?

I want to know what is wrong with MrProject?

I am not exactly sure where you read that something was _wrong_ with MR Project. If you care to read what i said in my mail, you would infer that the "feature set" in MR Project does not compare to the feature set in MS Project, which is a _far_ more mature application. When I say "stunted", it again means that the features in MR Project will not make a person who uses a lot of the features in MS Project shift easily. And I am not the person who would dismiss a piece of software just for the simple reason that it has been made by Microsoft, or because it is non-free.

-- rgds

"Nagarjuna G." nagarjun@hbcse.tifr.res.in said:

...

I am not exactly sure where you read that something was _wrong_ with MR Project. If you care to read what i said in my mail, you would infer

that

...

the "feature set" in MR Project does not compare to the feature set in

MS

...

Project, which is a _far_ more mature application. When I

say "stunted", it

...

again means that the features in MR Project will not make a person who

uses

...

a lot of the features in MS Project shift easily. And I am not the

person

...

who would dismiss a piece of software just for the simple reason that

it

...

has been made by Microsoft, or because it is non-free.

No, I only wanted to know the feedback of users if any. I dont use any project management tool as of now.

But, I dont touch a software just because it works better. I will touch it only if it comes with "nuts and bolts" and I have freedom to repair and share the changes with my friends.

That's because you have the capability to do it :) I doubt the building constructor would go about adding code to a tool.

Currently, MR Project supports Gantt Charts, a Task Chart and a Resource Chart. Of all these, the Gantt Chart is alright. The Task chart and Resource Chart have basic functionality. what needs to be incorporated is a lot, but as of now, tracking is not possible because of a lack of a point storage facility, where you can dump your project status on a particular date, and at a later date, revise it. That way you would be able to track how many days/resources you have used more/less against your original plan. Also, there is no way you can actually plug resource costs properly to the task manager or the Resource Charts.

If Microsoft comes with a software with "nuts and bolts" I will not mind using it.

that it does'nt :) I think you are better off using a custom tool - like say take bugzilla engine and add project tracking components to it. A base system could be made, with a database like PGSQL as the backend, and people can work on separate components - and each component can take plugins/etc that can be configured. On similar lines to WebMin. Woudl be an interesting piece of work if someone got down to getting the logic for all of this scheduling ironed it. Making it web-based would be great too. There are some already available, search freshmeat for "project management" and look at the features.

The biggest advantage that MS PRoject has over others a cheap(as in money) Project Management tool is its relatively tight integration and the facility to make predictions based on referring to a database of similar previous projects. Forecasting and scheduling becomes a lot easier.

-- cheers