The way I understand persistence is that a USB distro works and can be updated and changed each time. And the changes will remain for each boot. Do you agree?

yes. good enough for a basic understanding. yes

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"USB with persistence" usually means that you have a linux live distro in a USB, with additional persistence, i.e. your changes to the live distro are saved, and reconstructed.

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I'd have to say no. Persistence is a term usually used to mean a live distro being able to save some information.

While it can save many pieces to the running OS it can't save all of them. For example it may save desktop settings or network settings or your documents.

The bad part is that you can not properly upgrade or install when parts of the original ISO image need to be managed. For example you won't be able to update kernel or install virtualbox.

Live distro's are a great way to test out and limited use of an OS. They aren't good long term solutions. They employ a neat trick into managing how the booted OS thinks storage is used.

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Following on jefro's comment above, the one portable, live distro that I have used with complete "persistance" is Puppy Linux, with its use of a combination of static ISO files and dynamic SFS files.

Cheers,

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Fatdog64 if you have 64bit

I prefer to install, for my nephew the gamer I just move microcoughed-losedough$ to the top of GRUB so when he, m$ and 3rd parties brake it texts me from Debian: "need help..."

This is my favorite over the years: https://cdimage.debian.org/cdimage/u...y-live-builds/
have fun!

Edit\add: Slax is cool too: https://www.slax.org/en/documentation.php

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I more than got my question answered about persistence. What bothers me is the failure rate of usb drives. I like them but don't know how long you can expect them to last.

As long as you don't get too cheap a USB stick, it should last you several years.

If you're worried about data loss, then just back up your stick to another stick/medium from time to time.

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Flash drives will fail at a higher rate than quality mechanical drives. In any storage media you need to take a look at risks. Your disaster plan and recovery of data will have to match your data value.

I've a few drives that have lasted many many years and are now way too small to use. They were better than a floppy.

I've also destroyed a few drives by static and by unknown programs or uses.

Flash drive installs are currently not better than real hard drives. You can't have any reasonable expectation as to the useful life. There are some drives targeted towards using Windows 10 on them and they are much higher quality but cost a lot more.