pdf files can also be interactive and do conditional logic... it just gets
blurry that's all.
I also can have an ActiveX control that has no executable code at all...
like an icon file... even though it's an activeX/dcom component, it just
encapsulates images...
It just gets messy from here on out.
I agree... keep the content open source and leave the tools out of it.
Jared
> -----Original Message-----
> From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On Behalf Of Brad Thompson
> Sent: Sunday, May 21, 2000 8:20 PM
> To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Subject: RE: [Open_Gaming] OT: Why programs are software but software
> isn't necessarily a program.
>
>
> > Jared Nielsen
> >
> > ActiveX controls aren't "executable programs", but when a browser loads
> > them, and interpreter launches which spawns executable interpreted or
> > compiled code embedded in the ActiveX control.. which by the way is no
> > different from a .dll...
> >
> > This "passive executability" is identical to the functioning of a
> > .pdf file.
>
> There is nothing passive about the code in a dll or com control. The
> difference between data and programs is who is directing the action. Data
> does not 'do' anything. Programs 'do' things. Programs can make
> decisions
> based on data, but without control structures and conditional
> operators, you
> don't have a program. Scripting languages, interpreted languages, p-code
> languages and compiled languages are all used to create programs. HTML,
> XML, Rich Text, ASCII and EBCEDIC are all data file formats. I am not
> intimately familiar with PDF, but unless it has control & conditional
> structures it isn't a program. I will concede that it is possible to
> construct trivial examples which perform no conditional operations and do
> not use control structures, but they are beyond the scope of this
> discussion. Also, some files blur the line, like ASP, PHP or SQL scripts,
> and even Postscript (which is actually a program language that is used
> almost exclusively for describing data).
>
> -Brad
>
> -------------
> For more information, please link to www.opengamingfoundation.org
-------------
For more information, please link to www.opengamingfoundation.org
