Word.ws English Dictionary

never change a running system

never change a running system proverb: do not change something while it is working (because there is a risk of breaking it).

Proverb

never change a running system

  1. Do not change something while it is working (because there is a risk of breaking it).
    • That is, applying a specialised new policy to only improve a temporary capacity extension may be unsuitable (“Never change a running system!”).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...
    • 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...2012, Tiziana Margaria, Bernhard Steffen, “Service-Orientation: Conquering Complexity with XMDD”, in Mike Hinchey, Lorcan Coyle, editors, Conquering Complexity, →ISBN, page 224

Examples of never change a running system in a sentence

  • “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.2019, Boris Scholl, Trent Swanson, Peter Jausovec, Cloud Native: Using Containers, Functions, and Data to Build Next-Generation...
  • 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.2021, Andreas Graesser, Escape the Change Dilemma: Transformation to a Smart Data-Driven World, →ISBN:

Synonyms of never change a running system

Origin of never change a running system

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

Questions about never change a running system

What does never change a running system mean?
Never change a running system means do not change something while it is working (because there is a risk of breaking it).
How do you use never change a running system in a sentence?
“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.
What part of speech is never change a running system?
Never change a running system is a proverb.

Words near never change a running system in the dictionary

  1. never
  2. never a dull moment
  3. never again
  4. never ask the barber if you need a haircut
  5. never been kissed
  6. never change a running system
  7. never eat shredded wheat
  8. never eat soggy waffles
  9. never eat soggy Weet-Bix
  10. never eat soggy wheat
  11. never ending

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: never change a running system (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “never change a running system.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/never_change_a_running_system. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.