I think the confusion comes from the meaning of stable. In software there are two relevant meanings:
Unchanging, or changing the least possible amount.
Not crashing / requiring intervention to keep running.
Debian, for example, focuses on #1, with the assumption that #2 will follow. And it generally does, until you have to update and the changes are truly massive and the upgrade is brittle, or you have to run software with newer requirements and your hacks to get it working are brittle.
Arch, for example, instead focuses on the second definition, by attempting to ensure that every change, while frequent, is small, with a handful of notable exceptions.
Honestly, both strategies work well. I’ve had debian systems running for 15 years and Arch systems running for 12+ years (and that limitation is really only due to the system I run Arch on, rather than their update strategy.
It really depends on the user’s needs and maintenance frequency.
Let me try that: “my car is so stable, it always starts on the first try”, “this knife is unstable, it broke when I was cutting a sausage”, “elephants are very reliable, you can’t tip them over”, “these foundations are unreliable, the house is tilting”
Strange, it’s almost like the word “stability” has something to do with not moving or changing, and “reliability” something to do with working or behaving as expected.
Languages generally develop to be more precise because using a word with 20 different meanings is not a good idea. Meanwhile, native English speakers are working hard to revert back to cavemen grunts, and so now for example “literally” also means “metaphorically”. Failing education and a lacking vocabulary are like that.
Amazingly, for someone so eager to give a lesson in linguistics, you managed to ignore literal definitions of the words in question and entirely skip relevant information in my (quite short) reply.
Both are widely used in that context. Language is like that.
Further, the textbook definition of Stability-
the quality, state, or degree of being stable: such as
a: the strength to stand or endure : firmness
b: the property of a body that causes it when disturbed from a condition of equilibrium or steady motion to develop forces or moments that restore the original condition
c: resistance to chemical change or to physical disintegration
Pay particular attention to “b”.
The state of my system is “running”. Something changes. If the system doesn’t continue to be state “running”, the system is unstable BY TEXTBOOK DEFINITION.
I think the confusion comes from the meaning of stable. In software there are two relevant meanings:
Unchanging, or changing the least possible amount.
Not crashing / requiring intervention to keep running.
Debian, for example, focuses on #1, with the assumption that #2 will follow. And it generally does, until you have to update and the changes are truly massive and the upgrade is brittle, or you have to run software with newer requirements and your hacks to get it working are brittle.
Arch, for example, instead focuses on the second definition, by attempting to ensure that every change, while frequent, is small, with a handful of notable exceptions.
Honestly, both strategies work well. I’ve had debian systems running for 15 years and Arch systems running for 12+ years (and that limitation is really only due to the system I run Arch on, rather than their update strategy.
It really depends on the user’s needs and maintenance frequency.
The word you’re looking for is reliability, not stability.
Both are widely used in that context. Language is like that.
Let me try that: “my car is so stable, it always starts on the first try”, “this knife is unstable, it broke when I was cutting a sausage”, “elephants are very reliable, you can’t tip them over”, “these foundations are unreliable, the house is tilting”
Strange, it’s almost like the word “stability” has something to do with not moving or changing, and “reliability” something to do with working or behaving as expected.
Languages generally develop to be more precise because using a word with 20 different meanings is not a good idea. Meanwhile, native English speakers are working hard to revert back to cavemen grunts, and so now for example “literally” also means “metaphorically”. Failing education and a lacking vocabulary are like that.
Amazingly, for someone so eager to give a lesson in linguistics, you managed to ignore literal definitions of the words in question and entirely skip relevant information in my (quite short) reply.
Further, the textbook definition of Stability-
Pay particular attention to “b”.
The state of my system is “running”. Something changes. If the system doesn’t continue to be state “running”, the system is unstable BY TEXTBOOK DEFINITION.