Author here, for the record, I never said the problem was the imposition of processes, I know that is totally necessary, and was listing great "pluses" to Jira as a management tool.

Something I think I could have iterated better in the blog post was that I believe Jira--even without all the bureaucratic processes it promotes--panders solely to higher-level management with zero regard for the ones interfacing with it: the engineers. That's the big issue I see.

I think Linear--by stripping away all the hullabaloo--continues to provide management good insight on team progress without abandoning the ones who actually use it on a daily basis.

I'm really hoping Linear continues to step up to the plate and manages to take on some of the features that make Jira a more attractive piece of software for a lot of people that are familiar with it veering Linear away from its great UI, speed, etc. However, I wonder how many people are actually picking Jira based on its merits rather than it just being what they're accustomed/used to, or simply not knowing there are other options out there.