I’ve worked with some pretty rotten software, but management software is easily the most user unfriendly, so my vote goes to HPSM.

  • Sean TilleyEnglish
    4•9 months ago

    Holy shit, Air Force MX represent!

    Yeah, this piece of garbage has it all:

    • Crusty UI that looks like Windows 95 + Web 1.0
    • All navigation is done either though typing numbers in a box, or diving into a maze of links with the density of a black hole.
    • Loses everything if you hit the back button
    • Schedule in the future, sign off in the past.
    • The yellow windows in the ugliest font imaginable. Pop-up blocker enabled? Yeah, you won’t see them, and your page will refresh if you turn it on.
    • Have fun fishing for a primary JCN to pull from for all your subsequent job write-ups. Cross-reference everything!
    • You signed off a whole JCN tree on an X and need to open it up again? Better have powers.
    • Half the time, your shop writes stuff that’s just wrong. They took out a part and put it back in? “L 127 Configured to Installed Position”, because they didn’t want to put in an install and removal job.
    • Being the DIT monitor who has to fix all the bad write-ups for QA compliance. So many people get basic details horribly wrong.

    Been doing F-16 MX and using this garbage for the last few years now. I’ve actually gotten pretty good with it, but it doesn’t excuse the fact that this is one of the worst pieces of garbage out there.

    • @DavidchanEnglish
      2•9 months ago

      Yeah I was F-15 pods nearly 15 years ago. Despite not even close to the most senior member of the shop I became the shop expert on anything dealing with computers, be time, ordering parts, log books or figuring out why some dumbasses email didn’t work and help desk knew my name. IMDS/CAMS has got to be designed to be the most agonizing thing ever and hasn’t had a real update since the late 80s or early 90s. Cause how do you accidentally make something so awful without actually trying to inflict pain on users?!

      • Sean TilleyEnglish
        1•9 months ago

        I mean, the real gag here is not just that it’s bad and people mostly don’t use it correctly, it’s that your whole section can catch hell if QA finds even the smallest error. Better have multiple people on DIT to look over everything every single day!

        It got to be one of those things that I hated so much, I sketched out plans for my own open source alternative. No guarantee that I’ll ever actually make it, but I have loads of thoughts on how to do this better.

        Meanwhile, all the F-35 guys laugh at us in ALIS, which is apparently great.