The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Misfeature \Mis*fea"ture\, n.
Ill feature. [R.] --Keats.
[1913 Webster]
The Jargon File (version 4.4.7, 29 Dec 2003):
misfeature
/mis?fee'chr/, /mis?fee`chr/, n.
[common] A feature that eventually causes lossage, possibly because it is
not adequate for a new situation that has evolved. Since it results from a
deliberate and properly implemented feature, a misfeature is not a bug. Nor
is it a simple unforeseen side effect; the term implies that the feature in
question was carefully planned, but its long-term consequences were not
accurately or adequately predicted (which is quite different from not
having thought ahead at all). A misfeature can be a particularly stubborn
problem to resolve, because fixing it usually involves a substantial
philosophical change to the structure of the system involved.
Many misfeatures (especially in user-interface design) arise because the
designers/implementors mistake their personal tastes for laws of nature.
Often a former feature becomes a misfeature because trade-offs were made
whose parameters subsequently change (possibly only in the judgment of the
implementors). ?Well, yeah, it is kind of a misfeature that file names are
limited to six characters, but the original implementors wanted to save
directory space and we're stuck with it for now.?
The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (30 December 2018):
misfeature
/mis-fee'chr/ or /mis'fee"chr/ A feature that eventually
causes lossage, possibly because it is not adequate for a new
situation that has evolved. Since it results from a
deliberate and properly implemented feature, a misfeature is
not a bug. Nor is it a simple unforeseen side effect; the
term implies that the feature in question was carefully
planned, but its long-term consequences were not accurately or
adequately predicted (which is quite different from not having
thought ahead at all). A misfeature can be a particularly
stubborn problem to resolve, because fixing it usually
involves a substantial philosophical change to the structure
of the system involved.
Many misfeatures (especially in user-interface design) arise
because the designers/implementors mistake their personal
tastes for laws of nature. Often a former feature becomes a
misfeature because trade-offs were made whose parameters
subsequently change (possibly only in the judgment of the
implementors). "Well, yeah, it is kind of a misfeature that
file names are limited to six characters, but the original
implementors wanted to save directory space and we"re stuck
with it for now."