  Jaynes' maximum entropy (MaxEnt) principle was recently used to give a
conditional, local derivation of the ``maximum entropy production'' (MEP)
principle, which states that a flow system with fixed flow(s) or gradient(s)
will converge to a steady state of maximum production of thermodynamic entropy
(R.K. Niven, Phys. Rev. E, in press). The analysis provides a steady state
analog of the MaxEnt formulation of equilibrium thermodynamics, applicable to
many complex flow systems at steady state. The present study examines the
classification of physical systems, with emphasis on the choice of constraints
in MaxEnt. The discussion clarifies the distinction between equilibrium, fluid
flow, source/sink, flow/reactive and other systems, leading into an appraisal
of the application of MaxEnt to steady state flow and reactive systems.
