Somewhere in code there was a function named "abtain_list_lock", That's right, with "a". A few years ago a rather large group of developers branched out from main version to work on a another set of special awesome features. The developers working on side branch quickly renamed the function to "obtain_list_lock" and continued working. Over the next three years much work done; lots of new functions that obtain list locks were written. It was time for a merge between branches and resulting version included awesome new features from both branches. It also included both "abtain_list_lock" and "obtain_list_lock" having the same function body. One day this will be fixed, but not today.
Why?
1. Developers do not read function and variable names carefully, IDE allows code navigation without reading function names.
2. Developers on side branch expected that the typo on main branch will be fixed by the next person who uses that function, extrapolating own quality standards on others. It also highlights some bureaucracy in branch ownership and commit policies in larger software corporations.
3. C language allows implicit function declarations. Many users of "abtain" did not include the relevant header file where function is declared. Thus removal of function with typo led to errors while linking, not during compilation. Due to complicated custom build system such errors did not show verbose error messages by default. A simple preprocessor macro in header file wouldn't be enough to make it link.
4. The merge was done in haste. People were under pressure to release product that contains all features from both branches as soon as possible.
