Open systems (was Re: What computer would you buy to replace your //* ?)

[90taobri@wave.scar.utoronto.ca (TAO BRIAN T)]

In article <54646@sophia.inria.fr>, Guillaume Laurent writes...
> 
> What I mean by "closed" is that you can't customize it easily, you know
> nothing about the system unless you dig up in hundreds of pages of docs.

    UNIX, X, the Amiga OS, etc. wouldn't qualify under your second
requirement.  ;-)  Figuring out UNIX or X from scratch isn't easily
accomplished without a manual, much less trying to program in those
environments.  OTOH, you can rather easily figure out a GS or Mac
without manuals.  Doesn't make them open systems.  ;-)

    I don't know what the formal definition is, but I would think it has
something to do with the number of manufacturers producing that
particular product, as well as the availability of the specifications. 
The Macintosh is then quite definitely a closed system (both the
hardware and system software can only be had from Apple).  The UNIX OS
and Intel-based systems can be considered "open systems" then.
--
Brian Tao:: taob@io.org (Internex Online, 416-363-3783, 10 lines, v.32bis)
::::::::::: 90taobri@wave.scar.utoronto.ca (University of Toronto, 9T4)