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by erhaetherth 1053 days ago
That's a funny definition of "reliable". I'd factor availability into reliability. If I Uber to work and every time an Uber picks me up it gets me to my destination with 100% success but once a week no Ubers are available, is that a reliable mode of transportation? Would my boss not shout at me to find a more reliable way to get to work?
2 comments

Eric Brewer's calling, and would like a word.

Availability and correctness are fundamentally opposed. The word "reliable" is contextual.

A backup service that is always available but serves up garbage is not as reliable as one that serves me the correct data, but only on Mondays.

Sure, but if you took urber every day and after several years none was available for just one day your boss would forgive you and consider uber reliable. If it suddenly had a lot of failures you would be told to find a new way, but everyone has a few days per year they can't get to work(often sick)