Ellynne wrote:
Left to develop on its own, odds are no two groups of computer users would independently invent it or even invent highly similar and somewhat compatible programs. So, the question remains, in what ways did the System interact with the Federation (or, at least, its technology)?
By chance, I have just stumbled over an old e-mail from my brother where we were discussing whether an astute programmer like Avon could reprogram alien computer systems such as Zen. I commented to him that perhaps the tariel cell was an "inevitable" development in computer hardware, without which a culture cannot break beyond some limitation (processing power or whatever). The question then became whether the hardware could dictate, or indicate, how the software was designed/embedded/etc so that if Avon understands the hardware he can understand the software, or at least enough of it's rules, to begin decoding & understanding it.
It is somewhat related to Ellynne's question, so I thought I would throw his reply into the mix:
:Ultimately, I would have to think it is possible because computing has roots :in physical sciences and mathematics - things which are considered :'universal'. : :That is, calculus, for example, was something that was 'observed' or :'discovered' rather than 'invented', because it is something which is just :simply so. This is like gravity - it exists. Surely it exists on other :planets too, because it is a physical law. : :Art, perhaps, may be cultural and perhaps music and literature and the like. :Perhaps other races don't have any concept of art at all, and use non-verbal :forms of communication. : :Yet, despite that, the fundamentals of mathematics must always hold true :regardless of the labels given to arbitrary terms like 'positive' and :'negative'. : :Computing has a basis in mathematics, and indeed, there is a field of :research to verify 'program correctness' which is rooted in mathematics :(which I don't really understand). Ultimately, though, a computer program :must solve atomic logical steps in a linear fashion to provide a solution to :a problem. Surely, even if the hardware and the software differ, the :underlying and fundamental processes remain the same - the alien computer :requires a sequence of instructions to solve a problem. : :If the hardware was similar to Earth technology then this would mean Avon :could recognise various things, such as perhaps the architecture of the :computer - by which I mean not necessarily where the floppy drive is, but :rather how the system works - as in, stack machine, Von Neumann computer, :and other computer science concepts of computer architecture. : :I don't think it's a vast leap from hardware to software in this case - :indeed, if it is known the hardware must be similar in some ways to earth :hardware then the 'alienness' of the issue can be reduced to considering how :one might program, say, a Russian computer, when you only know U.S. :computers. Now, let's consider word processors for a moment - if you know :how to use Word then you can go and use WordPerfect. You might need to work :out which keystrokes or menus are used to access certain functions, but :ultimately, you know what it is capable of doing and what you want to do - :say, justification or line spacing, etc. : :So, if you have a computer that you know operates in a similar fashion to :something you are used to, then even if everything is labelled differently, :you still do have a basic idea of what you want to achieve and the steps :that must be used to go about this. Perhaps if the wiring was similar you :can make presumptions about what various components must be. If Avon had :sample programs he could inspect, run and observe then he could work out the :language used on the computer. This is the way people today do things like :reverse-engineer the ROMs in their Nokia phones, for example. The processor :and machine language of the Nokia is unknown (well, except to Nokia), but :people _have_ downloaded the ROMs and by experimentation been able to break :the machine language and document it. : :I think the assumption that 'if it is alien it cannot be known' is not :necessarily valid, especially if there are similarities to earth ways like :spaceships with seats in them, keyboards, windows, tariel cells and so :forth. : :Perhaps if the computer didn't use a keyboard but telepathy then Avon would :be in trouble, but ultimately because the hardware is familiar in some way, :I would be confident that with perseverance Avon could use what he knows :and what he would expect to happen to work out the software.