it's not a bug, it's a feature en · X
Etymology
Coined by American computer programmer Sandra Lee Harris in 1971 at Digital Equipment Corporation.
Meanings
- What one user may consider a software bug, other users may consider to be a useful feature or an intentional consequence of the system's design.
- (humorous) A self-deprecating response when confronted by a bug in the software that one is authored or is introducing to another user.
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(broadly) Affirms the validity of a counterintuitive behavior within a system; it is by design.
“It is a feature, not a bug of Article 3 that the courts grant relief for the people in front of them,” Sauer said.
2025 May 15, Bart Jansen, quoting D. John Sauer, “Brown Jackson questioned how courts help multiple victims with only one litigant”, in USA Today, New York City, retrieved 15 May 2025:One annoyance, or maybe it’s one of those “it’s-not-a-bug-it’s-a-feature” situations, is the gearshift.
1999 September 14, “Long-term Test Cars”, in Popular Mechanics, New York City:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| it's a feature, not a bug | alternative | lexicographic | |
| INABIAF | alternative | lexicographic |
Relateds
one man's trash is another man's treasure
Translations (1)
ja それは仕様です (in computing)