Found an interesting blog on Jonathan Schwartz’s Weblog about the true definition of Open. While I don’t agree 100% with everything in his article, I think he’s hit the nail on the head.

He’s absolutely right.

…the definition of open that matters most is the one experienced by a customer or end user – “openness” is defined by the ease with which a customer can substitute one product for another

It’s interesting reading, and I hope to have some more time to add my own thoughts here…