Also known as Zawinski’s Law
Statement (1990s)
“Every program attempts to expand until it can read mail. Those programs which cannot so expand are replaced by ones which can.” — Jamie Zawinski
Interpretation
The reference to “reading mail” is metaphorical—representing an all-encompassing feature completely disconnected from the program’s original purpose. The law warns that feature creep is not an accident but an inevitable gravitational force that must be actively resisted.
Origin Story
Zawinski coined this law based on his experience developing Netscape Mail functionality in 1995. Netscape Navigator, originally a web browser, expanded to include email, newsgroups, HTML editing, and eventually became the Mozilla Suite—a perfect embodiment of the law.
Why Feature Creep Happens
Success attracts requests: More users lead to more diverse needs and endless feature requests
Feature parity arms race: Competitive pressure forces teams to match rivals’ feature sets[
Organizational gravity: Teams measure progress by feature output rather than simplification or refinement[islamneddar]
Easy to add features: Modern tools (especially AI) make it trivially easy to add capabilities, tempting teams to keep expanding[newsletter.manager]
Resources:
Note
This content was drafted with assistance from AI tools for research, organization, and initial content generation. All final content has been reviewed, fact-checked, and edited by the author to ensure accuracy and alignment with the author’s intentions and perspective.