Why is Jira so hated while still so widely used?

· Bits and Bobs 6/1/26
  • Why is Jira so hated while still so widely used?
    • Perhaps the thing that makes it hated is also what makes it durable.
    • It's possible to configure in infinite ways.
    • Any employee can tweak it, adding little workflow features to the shared instance.
    • These features are often only "designed" in that local context, but clutter up the shared instance for everyone.
      • The indirect effects of those decisions aren't really considered.
    • So a bunch of ill-considered modifications accumulate.
    • It's easier to add them than to remove them.
      • Especially if they might mess up another team's flow with your modifications.
      • Everyone feels helpless to fix it.
    • There's no one owner of the whole thing, so it just grows in complexity without bound.
      • A thicket of poorly considered but also load-bearing decisions.
      • Default diverging.
    • If it were customer-facing, the quagmire would be an existential embarrassment, people would be assigned to clean it up.
      • But when it's internal, it's easier to just trudge through.
      • At every step, it's easier to add just one more hack on the pile than to stop the world and try to rationalize it.
      • It's never urgent to plant a tree.