importance of upgradeability

[Michael Hennebry]

On Tue, 16 Jul 2013, lee wrote:

> Michael Hennebry <hennebry at web.cs.ndsu.nodak.edu> writes:

>> Having precisely one computer meant that I couldn't
>> look for on-line help while doing an install.
>
> That's one big advantage of the life systems some distributions have:
> You can always boot that and look for help even while installing.  If
> something went wrong, you can reboot the life system and use it to find
> more help.

What does "life systems" mean in this context?
googling mostly got me proper nouns.

-- 
Michael   hennebry at web.cs.ndsu.NoDak.edu
"On Monday, I'm gonna have to tell my kindergarten class,
whom I teach not to run with scissors,
that my fiance ran me through with a broadsword."  --  Lily