Oh, my last disappointment of the week was being lectured via 2 screenfuls of Confluence with a “it’s more complex that what you make it” exposure of 2-3 layers of encrusted legacies. The PO was flexing and glowing how their managed to build into the new product this synthesis of bad designs. Which means entire departments get a list of rotating passwords by email every couple weeks. The network of ossified legacies just grew one more sprout.

> Trying to make the software fit the poorly thought out and implemented legacy ERP design from yesteryear

“We need a new system, but it has to function exactly like the old one.”

Including any bugs and craziness.

I've wasted far too much time in my career doing exactly this for federal government customers. My favorite is when someone insists a feature is critical and must be replicated, but when I dig into it I find it *never* actually worked and as such, no one was using it.

I’ve seen several new systems that actually were the old system, with a screen scraper and a web interface slapped on top.