On a sailing ship, '''standing rigging''' is carpentry. It's line (ropes) permanently fastened between various ship fixtures - generally the masts, yards, and rails. During normal navigation, sailors never change these lines.

The '''running rigging''' is the line sailors haul to reconfigure a ship's sails. They untie this line from cleats, pay it out or haul it in, and tie it again to change the sails' geometry. The line typically runs thru blocks, to redirect it and amplify it.

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_xQ_loqpn-3M/SXLAh5u30eI/AAAAAAAAAHU/xf5c_LIw5E0/s1600/Victory-Rigging.jpg

The thick black line is standing and the thin yellow line is running.

Relation to SoftwareEngineering? Oh, probably nothing...

--PhlIp