[EMAIL PROTECTED] (Alex Martelli) writes: > > Note also from the Heine-Borel theorem that every closed source > > program can be covered by some finite collection of open source > > programs. > > Every _compact_ one, surely? Quoting by heart from old memories, but, > isn't Heine-Borel about (being able reduce any open covering of X to a > finite subcovering) <-> (X is compact) ...?
Yeah, whoops, that's what I meant; your old memories are clearer than mine. Actually sometimes the definitions and theorems interchange. I do remember something about Tikhonov's Theorem that says that no matter how often bounded closed source programs multiply, the product is still closed source. So, for example, Adobe Acrobat is still closed source even if you can download it from Adobe's web site infinitely often. But that theorem doesn't apply to noncompact (i.e. unbounded) closed source programs. So ordering Microsoft to release parts of Windows as open source was one of the potential remedies discussed in the penalty phase of the US Justice Dept's antitrust suit. Unfortunately, the DoJ lawyers were not good topologists so they didn't give enough consideration to this possibility. -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
