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6 definitions found
From The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (27 SEP 03) :   [ foldoc ]

  second-system effect
       
          (Sometimes, more euphoniously, "second-system syndrome") When
          one is designing the successor to a relatively small, elegant,
          and successful system, there is a tendency to become grandiose
          in one's success and design an elephantine feature-laden
          monstrosity.  The term was first used by Fred Brooks in his
          classic "{The Mythical Man-Month.  It described the jump from
          a set of nice, simple operating systems on the IBM 70xx
          series to OS/360 on the 360 series.  A similar effect can
          also happen in an evolving system; see Brooks's Law,
          creeping elegance, creeping featurism.  See also
          Multics, OS/2, X, software bloat.
       
          [{Jargon File]
       
       

From Jargon File (4.3.1, 29 Jun 2001) :   [ jargon ]

  second-system effect n. (sometimes, more euphoniously, `second-system
     syndrome') When one is designing the successor to a relatively small,
     elegant, and successful system, there is a tendency to become grandiose
     in one's success and design an elephantine feature-laden monstrosity.
     The term was first used by Fred Brooks in his classic "The Mythical
     Man-Month: Essays on Software Engineering" (Addison-Wesley, 1975; ISBN
     0-201-00650-2). It described the jump from a set of nice, simple
     operating systems on the IBM 70xx series to OS/360 on the 360 series. A
     similar effect can also happen in an evolving system; see Brooks's
     Law, creeping elegance, creeping featurism. See also {Multics},
     OS/2, X, software bloat.
  
     This version of the jargon lexicon has been described (with altogether
     too much truth for comfort) as an example of second-system effect run
     amok on jargon-1....
  
  

From English Wiktionary: All languages (2023-07-27) :   [ dictinfo.com:wikt-en-ALL-2023-07-27 ]

  second-system effect
     n.
     The tendency of small, elegant, and successful systems to be
  succeeded by overengineered, bloated systems, due to inflated
  expectations and overconfidence.

From English Wiktionary: English language only (2023-07-27) :   [ dictinfo.com:wikt-en-en-2023-07-27 ]

  second-system effect
     n.
     The tendency of small, elegant, and successful systems to be
  succeeded by overengineered, bloated systems, due to inflated
  expectations and overconfidence.

From English Wiktionary: Western, Greek, and Slavonic languages only (2023-07-27) :   [ dictinfo.com:wikt-en-Western_Greek_Slavonic-2023-07-27 ]

  second-system effect
     n.
     The tendency of small, elegant, and successful systems to be
  succeeded by overengineered, bloated systems, due to inflated
  expectations and overconfidence.

From English Wiktionary: Western languages only (2023-07-27) :   [ dictinfo.com:wikt-en-Western-2023-07-27 ]

  second-system effect
     n.
     The tendency of small, elegant, and successful systems to be
  succeeded by overengineered, bloated systems, due to inflated
  expectations and overconfidence.

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