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> By library, I mean any software that can be run by the user: shared objects, modules, servers, command line utilities, and others. By service, I mean any soft
by yawboakye 3y ago
> By library, I mean any software that can be run by the user: shared objects, modules, servers, command line utilities, and others. By service, I mean any software which the user can't run on their own; anything which depends (usually through an API) on a service provider for its functionality.
this definition makes (open source) self-hosted services libraries too, and so i think it’s wrong and unusable. the distinction between a library and a service is clear enough and colloquial at this point that a redefinition probably obscures rather than clarifies. a library isn’t runnable (~has no binary), a service is runnable (~has a binary)
- catern 3y agoWhat do you suggest as an alternative way to express these concepts? Colloquially, "library" and "service" have 95% of the correct connotations.