never change a running system

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English[edit]

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Etymology[edit]

From the field of computing, likely from German never change a running system.

Proverb[edit]

never change a running system

  1. Do not change something while it is working (because there is a risk of breaking it).
    • 2007, Xing Zhou, Thomas Dreibholz, Erwin P. Rathgeb, “Improving the Load Balancing Performance of Reliable Server Pooling in Heterogeneous Capacity Environments”, in Serge Fdida, Kazunori Sugiura, editors, Sustainable Internet: Third Asian Internet Engineering Conference, AINTEC 2007 […], →ISBN, page 126:
      That is, applying a specialised new policy to only improve a temporary capacity extension may be unsuitable (“Never change a running system!”).
    • 2012, Tiziana Margaria, Bernhard Steffen, “Service-Orientation: Conquering Complexity with XMDD”, in Mike Hinchey, Lorcan Coyle, editors, Conquering Complexity, →ISBN, page 224:
      This is the weakest point of the current practice: the deployment of complex systems on a heterogeneous, distributed platform is typically a nightmare, the required system-level testing is virtually unsupported, and maintenance and upgrading very often turn out to be extremely time consuming and expensive, de facto responsible for the slogan “never change a running system”.
    • 2019, Boris Scholl, Trent Swanson, Peter Jausovec, Cloud Native: Using Containers, Functions, and Data to Build Next-Generation Applications‎[2], →ISBN:
      “Never change a running system” is a widely used statement in software development, and it is also applicable when you consider moving your application to the cloud.
    • 2021, Andreas Graesser, Escape the Change Dilemma: Transformation to a Smart Data-Driven World‎[3], →ISBN:
      It’s not a coincidence that the following saying offers insight into the CIOs’ minds: ‘Never change a running system.’ However, just keeping the lights on seems to prevent innovation.

Usage notes[edit]

  • This proverb is primarily used by non-native speakers of English.

Synonyms[edit]

German[edit]

Etymology[edit]

Pseudo-anglicism, possibly from the field of computing, although this origin is disputed.[1]

Pronunciation[edit]

  • Audio(file)

Proverb[edit]

never change a running system

  1. if it ain't broke, don't fix it; leave well enough alone

References[edit]

  1. ^ 2020 (1st October), Pierre (Pierre Kurby), "Was bedeutet „Never change a running system“? Bedeutung, Definition, Erklärung", in the blog BedeutungOnline[1]
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