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From: darrell@sdcsvax.UUCP
Newsgroups: mod.os
Subject: Re: definitions of distributed
Message-ID: <2744@sdcsvax.UCSD.EDU>
Date: Thu, 19-Feb-87 04:48:00 EST
Article-I.D.: sdcsvax.2744
Posted: Thu Feb 19 04:48:00 1987
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I think all these definitions of distributed systems are missing the point.
Everyone seems to be trying to define the term based on the technical
requirements.  I maintain that it is the functional requirements which are
paramount.  It seems to me that there are two significant of a distributed
system:

1) Users at separate locations can access the system.

2) Users can get some of the functionality of the system even if all remote
equipment is non-functional.

Requirement (2) means that there must be autonomous processors at separate
locations.  Implicit in (1) is that there must be some communication between
those processors, since otherwise the whole is not *a* system.

Requirements that processors not share memory are a technical detail,
irrelevant at this level.

Frank Adams                           ihnp4!philabs!pwa-b!mmintl!franka
Ashton-Tate          52 Oakland Ave North         E. Hartford, CT 06108