Open System

Open system may refer to:

  • Open system (computing), one of a class of computers and associated software that provides some combination of interoperability, portability and open software standards, particularly Unix and Unix-like systems
  • Open system (systems theory), a system where matter or energy can flow into and/or out of the system, in contrast to a closed system, where energy can enter or leave but matter may not
  • Open system (control theory), a feedforward system that does not have any feedback loop to control its output in a control system
  • Open system, in management science a system that is capable of self-maintenance on the basis of throughput of resources from the environment
  • Open Systems Interconnection, an effort to standardize computer networking
  • Open and closed system in social science
  • Open system in thermodynamics or in physics
  • Open system of learning, where information is sourced from multiple sources
  • Open-system environment reference model, one of the first reference models for enterprise architecture
  • Open Systems Accounting Software, accounting and business software
  • Open Systems International, supplier of open automation solutions for utilities in the electric, oil & gas, transport, and water industries
  • Open Systems AG, a company headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland
  • Open Source Software system
  • Open Government system
  • Open publication system
  • Open Distribution system (Example: Peer-to-peer file sharing system)

Famous quotes containing the words open and/or system:

    “Each man has his own vocation. The talent is the call. There is one direction in which all space is open to him. He has faculties silently inviting him thither to endless exertion. He is like a ship in the river; he runs against obstructions on every side but one; on that side all obstruction is taken away, and he sweeps serenely over a deepening channel into an infinite sea.”
    —Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)

    “As long as learning is connected with earning, as long as certain jobs can only be reached through exams, so long must we take this examination system seriously. If another ladder to employment was contrived, much so-called education would disappear, and no one would be a penny the stupider.”
    —E.M. (Edward Morgan)