[thegrim33]

> I would totally ask to add a reference to the tech debt ticket right there to the code

99 times out of 100, they create the tech debt ticket, they add the comment, and multiple years later no follow up was ever scheduled in and the ticket eventually just gets resolved out as "wont fix" or is otherwise never looked at again.

[Muromec]

I learned a simple trick. Document all the shit, invent a metric that shows a difference between a painful shitty service-component-whatnot and a good one. The next time you are asked about feasibility of a project touching the blob of pain, point to the document listing it's status as "needs maintenance". Guess what -- time to make it right is allocated more often than it's not and if shit goes south, I will be taken seriously the next time.

That's just business. When a tram line has to be constructed and there is a leaking something something that will sabotage it if not taken care of, it's taken care of and included in the funding.