[lapcat]

> So when needed communication happens, it's just generally back and forth commentary in a bug is not a particularly good or efficient way to discuss implementation of bug fixes, features, etc.

I disagree, because whether it's the intention or not ("it's a bug tracker being used to track bug fixes, not a tool for communicating with arbitrary people not involved in the project"), the bug report de facto becomes an important historical record for understanding the code. In the future, when someone looks back, the question that often comes to mind is "Why?" Why this (that)? Why now (then)? The motive, the historical context, is rarely something that becomes evident just looking at the code, even code with comments.

Can I change this code? Can I delete this code? How did this code ever work? You can't rely on unit tests to tell you the story behind the code. And when you come upon some "questionable" code, it's equally likely that the comments and/or tests are questionable too.

If the code was written to handle something publicly important, if debates were had, alternatives considered, choices made and rejected, that's worth knowing, in my opinion.