17 Dec
2011
17 Dec
'11
9:06 a.m.
On 17 December 2011 16:47, Eric Smith <eric at brouhaha.com> wrote:
Mouse wrote:
:?D Very well put!
--
Liam Proven ? Info & profile: http://www.google.com/profiles/lproven
Email: lproven at cix.co.uk ? GMail/GoogleTalk/Orkut: lproven at gmail.com
Tel: +44 20-8685-0498 ? Cell: +44 7939-087884 ? Fax: + 44 870-9151419
AIM/Yahoo/Skype: liamproven ? MSN: lproven at hotmail.com ? ICQ: 73187508
?You mentioned OpenGenera; is this an open-source version or something?
[...]
?My (rudimentary) web-search skillz end up at
pages that give the
?impression the "Open" part is a misnomer,
Liam Proven wrote:
Kinda, yes. It certainly doesn't mean what it
normally tends to.
Like OpenVMS.
Shortly after the name change to OpenVMS was announced, I received in the
mail a brochure for training classes DEC offered. ?One of the classes was on
the subject of writing OpenVMS device drivers. ?It was noted that a signed
nondisclosure agreement was required to take the class. ?That's an even less
"open" operating system than Microsoft Windows.
DEC marketing was usurping the word "Open" because they noticed that
customers were starting to want open things. They apparently thought
(probably correctly) that putting "Open" in the name would trick potential
customers and bring in more sales. ?Other companies did the same thing, but
I can't think of any others where the oxymoronic name has lasted as long.
Someone suggested that in this usage, "Open" isn't an adjective, but
rather
a verb, and the direct object isn't "VMS" but rather your wallet.