20 lines
2.9 KiB
HTML
20 lines
2.9 KiB
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<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1" standalone="no"?>
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<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><title>misfeature</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="../../jargon.css" type="text/css"/><meta name="generator" content="DocBook XSL Stylesheets V1.61.0"/><link rel="home" href="../index.html" title="The Jargon File"/><link rel="up" href="../M.html" title="M"/><link rel="previous" href="misbug.html" title="misbug"/><link rel="next" href="missile-address.html" title="missile address"/></head><body><div class="navheader"><table width="100%" summary="Navigation header"><tr><th colspan="3" align="center">misfeature</th></tr><tr><td width="20%" align="left"><a accesskey="p" href="misbug.html">Prev</a><EFBFBD></td><th width="60%" align="center">M</th><td width="20%" align="right"><EFBFBD><a accesskey="n" href="missile-address.html">Next</a></td></tr></table><hr/></div><dt><a id="misfeature"/><dt xmlns="" id="misfeature"><b>misfeature</b>: <span xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" class="pronunciation">/mis<69>fee<65>chr/</span>, <span xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" class="pronunciation">/mis<69>fee`chr/</span>, <span xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" class="grammar">n.</span></dt></dt><dd><p>
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[common] A feature that eventually causes lossage, possibly because it is
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not adequate for a new situation that has evolved. Since it results from a
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deliberate and properly implemented feature, a misfeature is not a bug.
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Nor is it a simple unforeseen side effect; the term implies that the
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feature in question was carefully planned, but its long-term consequences
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were not accurately or adequately predicted (which is quite different from
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not having thought ahead at all). A misfeature can be a particularly
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stubborn problem to resolve, because fixing it usually involves a
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substantial philosophical change to the structure of the system
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involved.</p><p>Many misfeatures (especially in user-interface design) arise because
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the designers/implementors mistake their personal tastes for laws of
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nature. Often a former feature becomes a misfeature because trade-offs
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were made whose parameters subsequently change (possibly only in the
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judgment of the implementors). “<span class="quote">Well, yeah, it is kind of a
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misfeature that file names are limited to six characters, but the original
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implementors wanted to save directory space and we're stuck with it for
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now.</span>”</p></dd><div class="navfooter"><hr/><table width="100%" summary="Navigation footer"><tr><td width="40%" align="left"><a accesskey="p" href="misbug.html">Prev</a><EFBFBD></td><td width="20%" align="center"><a accesskey="u" href="../M.html">Up</a></td><td width="40%" align="right"><EFBFBD><a accesskey="n" href="missile-address.html">Next</a></td></tr><tr><td width="40%" align="left" valign="top">misbug<EFBFBD></td><td width="20%" align="center"><a accesskey="h" href="../index.html">Home</a></td><td width="40%" align="right" valign="top"><EFBFBD>missile address</td></tr></table></div></body></html>
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