https://wiki.tachyony.co.uk/w/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=Open_system_%28computing%29Open system (computing) - Revision history2026-07-06T17:20:58ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.44.0https://wiki.tachyony.co.uk/w/index.php?title=Open_system_(computing)&diff=41964&oldid=previmported>AdaHephais: Add internal link2026-05-09T19:44:25Z<p>Add internal link</p>
<p><b>New page</b></p><div>{{Refimprove|date=June 2008}}<br />
{{distinguish|Open-source software}}<br />
'''Open systems''' are [[computer system]]s that provide some combination of [[interoperability]], [[software portability|portability]], and [[open standard|open software standard]]s. (It can also refer to specific installations that are configured to allow unrestricted access by people and/or other computers; this article does not discuss that meaning).<br />
<br />
The term was popularized in the early 1980s, mainly to describe systems based on [[Unix]], especially in contrast to the more entrenched [[mainframe computer|mainframes]] and [[minicomputer]]s in use at that time. Unlike older [[legacy system]]s, the newer generation of Unix systems featured standardized programming interfaces and peripheral interconnects; third party development of hardware and software was encouraged, a significant departure from the norm of the time, which saw companies such as [[Amdahl Corporation|Amdahl]] and [[Hitachi Data Systems History|Hitachi]] going to court for the right to sell systems and [[Peripheral|peripherals]] that were compatible with [[IBM]]'s [[Mainframe computer|mainframes]].<br />
<br />
The definition of "open system" can be said to have become more formalized in the 1990s with the emergence of independently administered software standards such as [[The Open Group]]'s [[Single UNIX Specification]].<br />
<br />
Although computer users today are used to a high degree of both hardware and software interoperability, in the 20th century the open systems concept could be promoted by Unix vendors as a significant differentiator. IBM and other companies resisted the trend for decades, exemplified by a now-famous warning in 1991 by an IBM account executive that one should be "careful about getting locked into open systems".<ref>{{cite newsgroup <br />
| title = Open Systems Strategy from IBM<br />
| author = Ian Dickinson<br />
| date = 1991-07-11<br />
| newsgroup = comp.unix.misc<br />
| url = http://groups.google.com/group/comp.unix.misc/msg/8d6c9967273f11db<br />
| access-date = 2006-08-13<br />
}}</ref><br />
<br />
However, in the first part of the 21st century many of these same legacy system vendors, particularly IBM and [[Hewlett-Packard]], began to adopt [[Linux]] as part of their overall sales strategy, with "[[Open-source software|open source]]" marketed as trumping "open system". Consequently, an IBM mainframe with [[Linux on IBM Z]] is marketed as being more of an open system than [[commodity computer]]s using closed-source [[Microsoft Windows]]—or even those using Unix, despite its open systems heritage. In response, more companies are opening the source code to their products, with a notable example being [[Sun Microsystems]] and their creation of the [[OpenOffice.org]] and [[OpenSolaris]] projects, based on their formerly closed-source [[StarOffice]] and [[Solaris (operating system)|Solaris]] software products.<br />
<br />
==See also==<br />
* [[Open API]]<br />
* [[Open format]]<br />
* [[Open mainframe]]<br />
* [[Open System Environment Reference Model]]<br />
* [[Unix wars]]<br />
<br />
==References==<br />
{{Reflist}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Computer systems]]<br />
[[Category:History of computing]]<br />
[[Category:Open standards| ]]<br />
[[Category:Unix history]]</div>imported>AdaHephais