[Talk] Open systems - who gives a *&^%?

[Con Zymaris]

On Thu, Dec 05, 2002 at 02:15:41PM -0500, BlakeAGoddard at aol.com wrote:
> Hi
> 
> I've been lumbered with writing a report type thing for someone who wants to 
> know if open systems are a universal cure all for the info integration 
> problems of a business. 
> I asked him what he meant by open systems and he said he didnt know and that 
> was part of the problem. Magic. Anyway, I've decided that all systems are 
> open its just HOW open, and open ranges from developers only allowed in, to 
> business people, to suppliers, to business partners, to customers, and 
> ulimately to everyone allowed in (eg Internet). Theres loads of hype about 
> open system enablers like XML and web services being just around the corner, 
> but what do YOU think? Are the security and co-ordination issues just too 
> much for anyone except the big boys who have been doing this sort of thing 
> for years?
> Let me know what you reckon by Sunday - and naturally I'll credit you in my 
> footnotes!


I guess it's hard not to frame this in terms which are not Unix vs. 
Windows, but this battle is perhaps emblematic of the bigger picture of 
open protocols, open formats and open APIs battling closed, closed and 
closed.

http://www.dwheeler.com/oss_fs_why.html
http://people.freebsd.org/~andreas/unix-vs-nt/
http://www.computerbits.com/archive/2001/0300/unixvwindows.html
http://www.dwheeler.com/



Cheers,

Con Zymaris
EDITOR
AUUGN - Australian Unix Users Group Newsletter
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Con Zymaris <conz at cyber.com.au> Level 9, 140 Queen St, Melbourne.  9642 5997
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Specialists in Unix/Linux, TCP/IP and Web App. Development  www.cyber.com.au