It runs out my brain had filed all Lotus Notes experiences away in long term archival and this comment has revived them like a burst damn of both promise and trauma.
The only other comparable stack of the era, maybe slightly later, would be MS Access. When you’d get a call from a prospective client who’d explain they had a member of staff leave and now nobody knows how the Access database works.
“Accidentally load bearing” is an apt term
your trauma is my happy memory - being a lotus notes admin/dev consultant during my studies made me live a very comfortable life as a student!
Just imagine what AI is going to unleash. I can’t wait ha ha!