Hacker News Reader

The very definition of stable is "not changing".

Running an old, battle hardened kernel that gets the occasional bug fix/security patch is about as stable as you can get in software.

Which dictionary? Stability doesn't mean the software can't change. It has more to do with not being broken, than not changing. The latest stable Linux kernel is 5.8.3.

Stability and security are two different things.

In this instance I meant security, as in to feel secure. Like a security blanket.

This is true if the software isn't being maintained. I rely on a few deprecated utilities that are stable in the very limited sense that they will likely never break on their own in the current way they are being used. They doesn't mean they're not currently vulnerable.

Systems are as stable as their most vulnerable components. I don't think that's a contentious notion at all.