The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (19 January 2023):

brain-damaged

   1. [generalisation of "Honeywell Brain Damage" (HBD), a
   theoretical disease invented to explain certain utter
   cretinisms in Honeywell Multics] Obviously wrong; cretinous;
   demented.

   There is an implication that the person responsible must have
   suffered brain damage, because he should have known better.
   Calling something brain-damaged is really bad; it also implies
   it is unusable, and that its failure to work is due to poor
   design rather than some accident.  "Only six monocase
   characters per file name?  Now *that's* brain-damaged!"

   2. [especially in the Mac world] May refer to free
   demonstration software that has been deliberately crippled in
   some way so as not to compete with the commercial product it
   is intended to sell.  Synonym crippleware.

   [Jargon File]

   (2011-01-04)


The Jargon File (version 4.4.7, 29 Dec 2003):

brain-damaged
 adj.

    1. [common; generalization of “Honeywell Brain Damage” (HBD), a theoretical
    disease invented to explain certain utter cretinisms in Honeywell Multics
    ] adj. Obviously wrong; cretinous; demented. There is an implication
    that the person responsible must have suffered brain damage, because he
    should have known better. Calling something brain-damaged is really bad; it
    also implies it is unusable, and that its failure to work is due to poor
    design rather than some accident. “Only six monocase characters per file
    name? Now that's brain-damaged!”

    2. [esp. in the Mac world] May refer to free demonstration software that
    has been deliberately crippled in some way so as not to compete with the
    product it is intended to sell. Syn. crippleware.