Though this bug slipped through the cracks for a time, Linux programmers are working to create a less freewheeling process for tracking and fixing problems in their code. The Linux community, a self-directed group of programmers who collectively develop the Unix clone, doesn't have a suit-and-tie dress code, but it is becoming more formal. For example, in November the Open Source Development Lab -- a collaboration of IBM, Intel, Hewlett-Packard and others working to improve Linux for high-end systems -- began an effort to track bugs more carefully. It announced the Kernel Bug Tracker in a posting to the Linux kernel mailing list, and several programmers signed up to supervise various parts of the project. Red Hat already has its own bug-tracking site; it and the new OSDL site both use the open-source Bugzilla bug-tracking software. In addition, Linux programmers have begun to adopt the BitKeeper collaborative programming tool for managing their code. These more formal processes please companies such as IBM that have bet heavily on Linux. In a related development, the open-source world has become more tightly tied to the existing bug-tracking industry, fitting into established security mechanisms such as Mitre's Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures database. Conversely, security organisations are learning how to accommodate open-source groups.
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