[toronto-lisp] Definition of "System"

[Christopher Browne]

On Sat, Sep 26, 2009 at 12:50 PM, Rudolf Olah <omouse at gmail.com> wrote:
> A system is a collection of packages; you tell ASDF which are the main
> ones and how they fit in with other packages (their dependencies, from
> where they get some of their functionality). I guess that's as specific
> as the definition could get :-P

I'd throw in the nuance that "system" also has something to do with
the underlying Lisp implementation.

In the days of Lisp Machines, the "system" meant the whole ball of wax
including operating system.

Note in the Hyperspec:
http://www.lispworks.com/documentation/HyperSpec/Body/26_glo_s.htm
A "System class" is of type "built-in-class", so it cannot be used to
define subclasses...

This points somewhat at this nuance...
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