Archive of UserLand's first discussion group, started October 5, 1998.

Re: "Open" vs. "Closed"

Author:Ken MacLeod
Posted:5/13/2000; 9:24:50 AM
Topic:"Open" vs. "Closed"
Msg #:17267 (In response to 17261)
Prev/Next:17266 / 17268

Note that there is a difference in the use of the word "open" in "open standards" and "open source".

"Open" in open source generally means "freedom to use, modify, and redistribute".

"Open" in open standards generally means not controlled by a single interest, and occasionally means suitable for a variety of different uses ;-).

AFAICT, merely publishing source, an API, or a standard does not make it "open" in any real sense. The ISA bus and Win32 APIs, for example, are not open, whereas the PCI bus and POSIX APIs are.

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