repairing vs patching
Gradually realizing the difference between a repair and a.. "patch"? "Workaround"? I'm still trying to find the right words.
An illustrative example:
- Repair: fixing something that's broken such that it works basically as well as before (or better!).
- "Patch": restoring baseline functionality, but perhaps you need to remember to wiggle the thing first, or the other thing is now super finnicky, or you need to hold it at an awkward angle, or you need to re-patch it again in a couple of weeks.
Does this resonate with any of y'all? Interested in terminology & general thoughts re: how y'all approach repairs!
repairing vs patching
@tty A common term among sailors is jury-rigged
repairing vs patching
@neauoire Curious if/how y'all balance your repairs against your jury-riggings!
repairing vs patching
@tty Our pattern seems to be:
- jury-rig it once
- fails dramatically a year or so late
- do it properly
repairing vs patching
@neauoire @tty not to be a "well, actually" person, but it's actually "Jerry-rigging". The phrase "jury rigging" or "rigged jury" is a more common phrase due to stories of corrupt court officials...rigging juries...to favor either the prosecution or the defense.
Best as anyone can tell, based on my extensive Wikipedia research, is that it's derived from the French "rig du jour" which were *patches* made to wooden ships which were only meant to last a day
re: repairing vs patching
repairing vs patching
@tty From a textile work perspective a patch is a repair and can not only mend, but also improve the garment. A workaround otoh would be one of those fast seams that barely hold.
The realization is that a lot of my "repairs" are actually patches. It's easy to do a fix that's "good enough", but gosh, if you do enough of those, you actually seem to end up with a lot of annoying fragile systems all over the place that end up being even more work than having had just fixed it thoroughly the first time!