https://stackresearch.org/tags/entropy-os/Recent content in Entropy-Os on Stack ResearchHugoen-usMon, 16 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +0000https://stackresearch.org/editorial/software-that-expires/Mon, 16 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +0000https://stackresearch.org/editorial/software-that-expires/<p>Software accumulates by default.</p> <p>Features go in. Compatibility layers remain. Old state keeps its place because removing it feels riskier than carrying it. A temporary endpoint becomes a customer dependency. A migration flag survives long after the migration. A data field whose meaning has changed three times continues to answer because some quiet part of the system still asks for it.</p> <p>The usual word for this is technical debt, but debt is too clean a metaphor. Debt has a lender, a balance, and a date on the bill. Software decay is less orderly. It is closer to sediment. Each layer is understandable when it lands, and opaque once enough layers have settled above it.</p>