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Linear – A fast issue tracker

linear.app

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Re: Linear – A fast issue tracker

#141

Post by dmix »

tyre wrote: post #3

We've been using Linear for a couple months. It's kind of like Superhuman in that the primary benefit is hotkeys. Otherwise it is an issue tracker. I think the reason we see a steady stream of new issue trackers is that teams are trying to fix with software what are people problems. New issue trackers feel faster for the same reason switching browsers tends to feel faster—you're getting rid of all of the crap you pil…

Is Superhuman any good for that matter? I refuse to have to talk to a sales person on the phone in order to use a mail app. Which is what their signup flow required last time I tried.

Re: Linear – A fast issue tracker

#142

Post by Benjammer »

mumblemumble wrote: post #138
Benjammer wrote: post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What kind of scope level do you think works when talking about that list? Like project level instead of tasks, and then engineering figures out how to deliver the prioritized project? Otherwise it kinda just sounds like a backlog to me, just curious how you see the difference there. Also, I've seen product orgs that focus a lot of energy on not being burned, regardless of the scenario. They use their position at the…

It's going to invariably depend on how your company is organized, and its culture. If you're at all able to start with something approaching the business-facing parts of Scrum, I think that's a great place to start. In Scrum, there are ideally two completely separate queues : The product backlog belongs to the business folks, and is organized in a way that works for them, and the dev team's list of tasks belongs to d…

>secretly one of the most important things

Thanks, this is a neat idea to think about. You helped me start anchoring some untethered thoughts I've had floating around about this stuff recently.

>like all the ticketing system vendors seem to want you to do

It's so annoying how misaligned the incentives are between these vendors and the users. Standard fare for B2B products focusing on the people signing the checks though...

Re: Linear – A fast issue tracker

#143

Post by radihuq »

plainOldText wrote: post #73

I haven’t tried Linear, but while browsing the site I couldn’t help but notice what an exquisite job the designer did with the Linear site. It’s consistent, lightweight, it has pleasant proportions, a nice color theme, etc. It’s also sprinkled with all kinds of little details that show care, attention and craftsmanship. I wish I’d see more sites like this.

Agreed - love the design of the landing page

Re: Linear – A fast issue tracker

#144

Post by Kinrany »

atombender wrote: post #100

25+ years of working in software engineering has taught me that "issue tracker" presents the wrong metaphor. This product looks like it's not providing any novel improvements on what has failed for everyone so far, other than a slightly shinier surface. Clearly there's utility to issue tracking: Projects have problems of various kinds (bugs, mostly) that need to be fixed. Sometimes these are conflated with tasks, whi…

So:

- a stream of tasks, prioritized by the project manager

- WIP tasks, as few as possible

- a ticket system for communicating with clients; tickets should be resolved eventually

- a heap/knowledge base of unresolved issues that may never be fixed

Re: Linear – A fast issue tracker

#145

Post by wufufufu »

I'm interested in a native (MacOS optimized) issue tracker client and then a dictation software that is adept at understanding software terms. I've watched my doctor friend dictate to his laptop without a microphone and it took down notes perfectly.

Re: Linear – A fast issue tracker

#146

Post by atombender »

Kinrany wrote: post #144
atombender wrote: post #100

25+ years of working in software engineering has taught me that "issue tracker" presents the wrong metaphor. This product looks like it's not providing any novel improvements on what has failed for everyone so far, other than a slightly shinier surface. Clearly there's utility to issue tracking: Projects have problems of various kinds (bugs, mostly) that need to be fixed. Sometimes these are conflated with tasks, whi…

So: - a stream of tasks, prioritized by the project manager - WIP tasks, as few as possible - a ticket system for communicating with clients; tickets should be resolved eventually - a heap/knowledge base of unresolved issues that may never be fixed

Pretty much!

I'd personally argue that the only thing that really demands dedicated, centralized software here is the support system.

That said, I also think that you could build a turnkey system catering to this type of workflow. It just shouldn't be "database"-oriented. For example, I'm a bigger believer in process (than issue trackers and so on), and I think there are better ways to support the processes.

For example, why does a program have bugs? Whenever a bug comes around, try to systematize it. Was it because tests didn't exist? Was the bug caused by an vendor API and not your own? Sloppy programming? Etc. Collecting and measuring can uncover systemic issues. For example, you may eventually realize that 80% of bugs could have been avoided with tests. The only way to get better is to measure and record. But issue trackers like Github and Bugzilla don't help you with that.

Same thing with support systems. If you collate data about support tickets you can start to understand why you're getting support tickets in the first place. It's not rocket science, yet it appears rare.

Re: Linear – A fast issue tracker

#148

Post by jacques_chester »

mumblemumble wrote: post #138
Benjammer wrote: post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What kind of scope level do you think works when talking about that list? Like project level instead of tasks, and then engineering figures out how to deliver the prioritized project? Otherwise it kinda just sounds like a backlog to me, just curious how you see the difference there. Also, I've seen product orgs that focus a lot of energy on not being burned, regardless of the scenario. They use their position at the…

It's going to invariably depend on how your company is organized, and its culture. If you're at all able to start with something approaching the business-facing parts of Scrum, I think that's a great place to start. In Scrum, there are ideally two completely separate queues : The product backlog belongs to the business folks, and is organized in a way that works for them, and the dev team's list of tasks belongs to d…

I prefer a single queue with simple rules of who can do what.

The approach I learned at Pivotal Labs was that product management decides the order of stories and bugs, since these add or subtract user value. Engineering can put chores anywhere in the backlog according to their considered discretion, since these reduce drag and risk. Each week you have the Iteration Planning Meeting to look at what's coming up. Each day engineering pulls whatever's on the top of the backlog and works on it until it's done.

It seems really straightforward to me.

Re: Linear – A fast issue tracker

#149

Post by jacques_chester »

Benjammer wrote: post #48
tyre wrote: post #3

We've been using Linear for a couple months. It's kind of like Superhuman in that the primary benefit is hotkeys. Otherwise it is an issue tracker. I think the reason we see a steady stream of new issue trackers is that teams are trying to fix with software what are people problems. New issue trackers feel faster for the same reason switching browsers tends to feel faster—you're getting rid of all of the crap you pil…

Slightly OT thought, but related to ticket tracking systems and the idea of reduced backlogs: As we move more and more towards ubiquitous "Product Orgs," separate from engineering, I think we're seeing backlogs just explode in size at most places. People need to realize that a large engineering backlog has a lot of negative effects on the SDLC (& velocity) as a whole. I wish more people would embrace heavy-handed WIP…

> As we move more and more towards ubiquitous "Product Orgs," separate from engineering

I've only seen this separation recently and I am not a fan. It just seems like a terrible wasteful way to consume time, money and goodwill. I've never seen anything more effective than small balanced teams.

Re: Linear – A fast issue tracker

#150

Post by Kinrany »

atombender wrote: post #146
Kinrany wrote: post #144

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So: - a stream of tasks, prioritized by the project manager - WIP tasks, as few as possible - a ticket system for communicating with clients; tickets should be resolved eventually - a heap/knowledge base of unresolved issues that may never be fixed

Pretty much! I'd personally argue that the only thing that really demands dedicated, centralized software here is the support system. That said, I also think that you could build a turnkey system catering to this type of workflow. It just shouldn't be "database"-oriented. For example, I'm a bigger believer in process (than issue trackers and so on), and I think there are better ways to support the processes. For exam…

> not rocket science

Ha, this reminds me of that other thing that is not rocket science: https://graydon2.dreamwidth.org/1597.html

Perhaps we need an "awesome" list of things that are not rocket science but strangely underused.

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