Here it was steel piping that was galvanised ( and which would last for around 40 years) then copper pipe ( 100 year life) and now plastic piping ( bloody copper stripping ba$$$$$s that nick it with impunity).
At a house i lived in when I was young we replaced the piping with new, and dad used stainless steel pipe, as it was cheaper than copper pipe at the time, and would last essentially the life of the house, and then some. Only drawback was it was hard to work with, and you had to use brass compression fittings for everything.