"it's not a bug, it's a feature" meaning in English

See it's not a bug, it's a feature in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Phrase

Forms: INABIAF [alternative], it's a feature, not a bug [alternative]
Etymology: Coined by American computer programmer Sandra Lee Harris in 1971 at Digital Equipment Corporation. Etymology templates: {{coinage|en|Sandra Lee Harris|in=1971|nat=American|occ=computer programmer}} Coined by American computer programmer Sandra Lee Harris in 1971 Head templates: {{head|en|phrase}} it's not a bug, it's a feature
  1. (computing) 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. Translations (in computing): それは仕様です (sore wa shiyō desu) (Japanese)
    Sense id: en-it's_not_a_bug,_it's_a_feature-en-phrase-9~mUasD5 Categories (other): Computing Topics: computing, engineering, mathematics, natural-sciences, physical-sciences, sciences Disambiguation of 'in computing': 71 24 5
  2. (humorous) A self-deprecating response when confronted by a bug in the software that one is authored or is introducing to another user. Tags: humorous Related terms: one man's trash is another man's treasure
    Sense id: en-it's_not_a_bug,_it's_a_feature-en-phrase-uS0wfnrw Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, Entries with translation boxes, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries, Terms with Japanese translations Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 28 51 21 Disambiguation of Entries with translation boxes: 14 51 35 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 18 58 24 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 19 58 23 Disambiguation of Terms with Japanese translations: 21 55 24
  3. (by extension) Affirms the validity of a counterintuitive behavior within a system; it is by design. Tags: broadly
    Sense id: en-it's_not_a_bug,_it's_a_feature-en-phrase-cMmNNO0g
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        "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."
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        "(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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          "ref": "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 2025-05-15:",
          "text": "“It is a feature, not a bug of Article 3 that the courts grant relief for the people in front of them,” Sauer said.",
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      "code": "ja",
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      "roman": "sore wa shiyō desu",
      "sense": "in computing",
      "word": "それは仕様です"
    }
  ],
  "word": "it's not a bug, it's a feature"
}

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This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2025-08-01 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2025-07-20 using wiktextract (ed078bd and 3c020d2). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.