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OSID interoperability is an issue at many levels. While plug-and-play is a noble goal, this level of interoperability cannot occur where unknown and required out of band agreements exist. The interoperability gap is measurable and often the integration involves OSID Adapters which can be reused in other scenarios.
Interoperability in itself is an abstract concept. In the physical world it is often related to things like shape. For example, Lego’s have a particular shape that allows them to fit together. The shape consists of a pattern of bumps. This pattern is very precise. The bumps are cylindrical with an exact diameter, height and distance apart. The fact that the bumps might be 2 mm high rather than 3mm, is not what is important about Legos. It’s the fact that they all have the same pattern. This mean any two Legos can fit together, and that two Legos can be pulled apart and a third inserted in between.
The same holds true for OSIDs. They do have a precisely defined pattern, but the details of this are less important, than what the effect of this pattern is. It allows two pieces of software that correspond to this pattern to easily fit together. It also allows for inserting an extra piece of software in between the original two without effecting either.
Hey, What if the Interfaces Change?
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