looks like there's no bug tracker that's not a PITA to use.
what's a good bug tracker? it's certainly
file-based, a RDBMS may complement the filesystem with index information but should not be the primary (or only) format of the bug data. think GNATS with the PR (meta)data duplicated in a PostgreSQL installation.
lock-free or with very few (advisory or user-overridable!) locks
interface-neutral (hate those web-only PHP flashy "what's sql injection?" hacks)
web is a great interface for searching / browsing the PR data, but send-pr(1) leaves any web form in dust.
registration-free for bug submitters
if I'm so nice to search for the bug tracker of a software instead of just (fixing the bug locally and) moving on, hitting a registration form will make sure I'll stop right there. also, no CAPTCHA: inaccessibility and weaknesses.
inaccessible to spammers
promiscuous bug tracker is worse than worthless.