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I think it's different because internet is literally interconnecting devices, some of which might not even be running an OS per say. Whereas Apple can release

I think it's different because internet is literally interconnecting devices, some of which might not even be running an OS per say. Whereas Apple can release a new device on new OS with some custom hardware/drivers and as long as the internet + web parts are compatible with those interfaces there is no issue for customers. Maybe you're right though, but also isn't that what Posix was meant for? Also for things like Wi-Fi, they define those standards but the underlying vendor implementation is totally custom and can get really ugly still, just like an OS.

ethbr0 6y ago
The true benefit of hard interfaces is enforcing modularity, and the benefit of modularity is being able to upgrade a system. (At minimum, emulate & migrate over time) Even "relatively" simple monolithic systems are nightmarishly complex to change. Apple doesn't really give a shit about backwards compatibility, past the bare minimum to keep their platform devs from revolting. POSIX, originally, was intended to provide a solution to every-vendor's-Unix problem. A nice side effect of it was absolutely that we got (mostly) standard interfaces.