Open architecture; what is it? Can the concept become a reality? In my early days in the computing industry there was much talk about open architecture. Do not confuse this with open source; the concept was that all programs would be cross-cultural in respect of hardware and operating system. As long as the runtime software was installed on any particular machine it would run any program written and compiled using the comparable development software in any environment; it even encompassed interpreters. So where are we in this concept in the days of the Internet?

I only wish I could respond to these questions with a simple ?Yes were there?, but alas no. The one thing to keep in the back of your mind while reading this article is that computing in any sense is a large and profitable industry. Like most thing today commerce rules the roost. Competition for market share grows fiercer and fiercer; even as you are reading this it is more than likely that someone is contemplating how to best their competitor. Let's take a brief walk in to the daily life of a web site developer as an adventure in to open architecture.

The year is 2002 and all is well. As I look at my tasks for the week I notice there is a simple little static, seven page web site to be written. It is only HTML and CSS so it will take but a few hours as the design and graphics have been completed. So the plan is that I would use Frames in everything bar the home page (SEO even then), that would reduce banner and navigation repetitions in development and maintenance. Tables are ideal for the structure of the content. The code is duly written and tested using Internet Explorer, now for the browser compatibility. At present I have IE and Netscape, so I proceed with my Netscape test; adjust the table components until there are aesthetically acceptable on both browses. Another, satisfied customer, they have a web site that they reckon will never have to be changed; except for the odd line of content. The customer was an old conservative club; very resilient on the status quo; therefore I could not see much repeat custom there. But, much like in many aspects of life, I was wrong.

The year is now 2009 and all is not well. What happened to backwards compatibility? Surely that was part of the larger concept of open architecture. In the days when computers were restricted to the minority of specialist, and a limited number of programs that had to be amended to install a new piece of software, it was do-able. Alas, we now live in a society that involves millions upon millions of web pages, little programs in their own right; the software developers have forsaken the plight of the application/web developer. Who has not come across backward compatibility issues with what, with a degree of arrogance, the software development companies have deemed as out dated and no longer of use to the web sites owner. For a larger majority of web site owners the initial cost of a web site was/is expensive and the last thing they need in today's market is the additional cost of a rewrite. It is common place today to talk about dictators in government and society in general is strongly opposed to these characters. So why do we allow the software development companies dictate to us what is acceptable and what is not. Ah, I hear you saying, just don't upgrade, but what happens when Joe public accesses a site with their brand new PC only to find a hideous looking web page staring back at him? Backward compatibility should not be an issue it should simply be taken for granted. Now what about these browse compatibility issues mentioned earlier?

The browser compatibility issue that is close to the hearts of many web developers. It is great when you are developing an Intranet site where there is control on the browsers in use, but alas the Internet is different story. If anything browser compatibility issues have increased as more and more browsers have become available, granted there still only two real contenders to the crown Internet Explorer, still the largest, and today Firefox replacing Netscape. Many statistics will show Firefox creeping up rapidly on IE's market share, but think carefully about these statistics. When someone buys a PC; what browser is installed along with their Window's? How many of Joe public would even bother to look for an alternative? I digress, back to compatibility issue. It is not only between the browser manufactures that there are compatibility issues, but due to the backward compatibility issues even within the same browser at differing versions. There are of course several real reasons why we see the compatibility issues, the first and most obvious is the old human factor of ?we know better than them, they are useless?, not quite the phrase used but close enough. Then of course there is the human need for competition. This goes beyond reason in many walks of life and application/web developers just happen to be caught in the middle, being pulled in all directions. Finally without doubt there is the economic factor, proprietary software manufactures benefit for control of how we view the super-highway, would you honestly give up the rewards of such a control? So what can be done?

The answer unfortunately is a political one. There is a crying need for a controlling body with teeth. Yes, there is the W3C and they try their best and are great at producing guidelines, which of course the software manufactures have foreseen and developed? There has to be a body with teeth that can ensure that the simplest of deeds, like backward compatibility, are adhered to before any formal release. When you buy a new car or electrical appliance they have to perform stringent safety check. This of course is to ensure our safety, but what if the OS or application in the emergency services crashes due to a compatibility issue? Our lives as well as commerce depend today more and more on the reliability of communication and information systems, it is of no use having hardware that is incredibly reliable if the software does not match. All we can hope for is a light that will draw the software developer along the same path until they merge.