Potential candidates

Several existing tools could provide at least a core 'workflow' and 'status tracking' functionality. It is very likely that custom filters and generators will have to be added to any of these. Ideally, no new service would have to be opened up, just an application of an existing service.

• RHN, the Red Hat network. Closed source, and may not integrate well with other applications.
• Bugzilla e.g. via the existing http://savannah.cern.ch
• REMEDY: strong workflow engine, widely used in IT, some local expertise, understaffed?, ugly/cumbersome interface
• PAKITI (http://pakiti.sf.net): developed at CERN, geared more toward deployment monitoring
• NUTS (http://freshmeat.net/projects/nuts/): seems to be more geared towards deployment monitoring, no experience

If none of these is suitable (or if the effort of getting them to do the job is huge compared to a re-implementation), a homegrown tool could be proposed, hopefully against a 'supported' DB.

Build systems

• Plague - build system for Fedora Core (http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Projects/Plague) HowToInstallPlague HowToBuildSLCWithMock
• Pydar - build system for Dries RPM Repository (http://dries.ulyssis.org/rpm/pydar2/)
• DAR - Dag Wieers build system (http://dag.wieers.com/home-made/dar/)
• pld-builder.new - build system for PLD (http://cvs.pld-linux.org/cgi-bin/cvsweb.cgi/pld-builder.new/)
• ETICS - "out-of-the-box" build and test system developed in CERN (http://etics.web.cern.ch)
• OpenSUSE Build Service - used by the OpenSUSE people (http://en.opensuse.org/Build_Service)

Comparison of different systems

(more...)