And, reading between the lines o/t article: stable interfaces. The more stuff exists that uses an interface, the slower it tends to evolve. So very-popular interfaces tend to be stable & long-lived by necessity, because 'breaking the world' is not an option.

Come to think of it: that also applies to physical infrastructure: building codes & materials, road networks, AC power grids, gas stations + associated infrastructure to supply those, telecom networks, etc etc. Anything deployed at scale tends to evolve slowly.

Come to think of it: ... [biology]