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You’re asserting that so long as any code is closed, the platform is not “open source”. I disagree. When 99% of software on a device is open source, open source
by dpark 8y ago
You’re asserting that so long as any code is closed, the platform is not “open source”. I disagree. When 99% of software on a device is open source, open source has clearly eaten than device.
- ekianjo 8y agowell for supercomputers you are really far from that kind of ratio. even desktop computers are far from 99 percent for that matter.
- dpark 8y agoI bet you’re not that far from 99% on supercomputers running Linux. Drivers are not the bulk of the system. Obviously desktops aren’t at 99% unless you’re running Linux.
- ekianjo 8y ago> I bet you’re not that far from 99% on supercomputers running Linux. Drivers are not the bulk of the system. No, compilers should also count, and i'm not just talking about drivers. Everything from data storage (file system) to data transfer between the different racks of a supercomputer is usually proprietary. Seriously, look it up. > Obviously desktops aren’t at 99% unless you’re running Linux. No, even your Linux desktop is far from being 100% open source. How about the BIOS? The Intel microcode? Even open source GPU drivers interface with proprietary interfaces on the actual hardware. And let's not forget that many Linux distros don't make it very clear if what you are installing is actually free software or a proprietary blob. The reality is that it's very hard to have something fully running on free/open source software from A to Z.
- dpark 8y agoI’ve worked on clustered computers. It’s been a while, but I doubt they’ve progressed to more closed. I feel like you’re listing small pieces of the system and for some reason acting as if those are the majority of the code.