I also think this speaks volumes about the possibilities that open, or at least lenient, platforms offer. Rather than being removed for not adhering to a rule saying that "All project must contain source code", Github allows and encourages this kind of use.
I hope more companies in the future create products like this and treat their users similarly.
And yes, it's very refreshing to see GitHub allow this. Thinking about it further, ticketing systems could see many more uses in the real world, and it makes me wonder if this is where we're headed? Whether it be parents keeping track of their kids' chores, homework, and other activities, or perhaps it's a neighborhood that uses it to help foster a community-driven cleanup and improvement system, or maybe even a city taking bug reports for anything and everything: "Street light out on 5th street", "Leaky hydrant in Centennial Plaza", or even bug reports about the city's provided websites and services in general.
Some years ago, I helped make a bug reporting for cities too like you mention, it's http://fixmystreet.com/ - equivalent in the US is http://seeclickfix.com/
I wonder if subconsciously that was one of the reasons a bug tracker for my house felt like an obvious idea.
What differentiates Digg / Reddit / HN isn't the technology but rather the content and the social cues and community that derive from that.
I have seen countless internet forums devolve from being mostly sensible discussion around a particular topic to becoming a place for a small but active clique of users to post endless in-jokes.
The main reason I never stick with TODO applications is because I can't get into the habit of using it. I often think this is why so many persist with email as a todo list.
For example, see here where I had a general bug, took notes, got quotes, and (as someone above mentions) attached photos of fireplaces.
Doing so on a publicly accessible (and modifiable) bugtracker means you get a social / collective intelligence (and collective stupidity / vandal) effect. More useful for community projects than home ownership, but still.
I've seen workplaces where non-software issues (often facilities / maintenance) were tracked and managed through bugtracking tools.
Most don't - it's similar to software in that regard. I'm already used to doing that self-censorship for software, so guess it is natural.
Then again, perhaps this note is moot. After all, using github issues to track house repair is probably all the bona fides one needs as an uber-nerd.
