From: david.brown@hesbynett.no   
      
   On 09/02/2023 11:17, Dmitry A. Kazakov wrote:   
   > On 2023-02-09 09:42, David Brown wrote:   
   >   
   >> /Real-world/ programs always halt.  Most of the programs I write have   
   >> an "infinite loop" - "while (true) { .... }" in them.  But they stop   
   >> when someone switches off the board they are running on.  Even the   
   >> last of the Novel Netware servers will stop with the heat death of the   
   >> universe.   
   >   
   > Here you are talking about a computing system, not the program it runs.   
   > The computing system may halt = stop functioning. However arguably it   
   > does not stop, it ceases to exist as a computing system.   
      
   Agreed.  That's a useful way to describe it.   
      
   >   
   > The program does not. Per definition properties of a program are   
   > independent on the computing system. It is like 1+1=2, even if some   
   > beads of the abacus are built out of antimatter so that they annihilate   
   > when touching other beads. Same stupid argument.   
   >   
      
   Yes.   
      
      
   >> You /could/ argue that non-halting programs are just mathematical   
   >> fantasies.   
   >   
   > All programs are mathematical fantasies. After all, they are immaterial.   
   >   
   >> So let's please stick to the normal definitions of the terms, and not   
   >> add hidden assumptions about real-world limitations to simple   
   >> mathematical concepts.   
   >   
   > Right.   
   >   
      
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