In SX Microcontrollers, SX/B Compiler and SX-Key Tool, George Herzog wrote:

Though the SXes are very similar to the PICs in much of the concept, there was a large divergence in philosophy when it came to the programng port.  As I recall the PIC allows a programing entry through a couple fo general purpose piin, but the SXes use the oscillator pins as the programing port.

I suspect the SXes wanted to make the programing port more secure [no possiblity of remote reprograming] while allowing more pins to be available for more functions.  After all, the SXes had greatly faster speed and twice the memory than their PIC counterparts.  

There was an effort to have a generic DIY clone of the SX-Key - it is called Fluffy2 - but it requires a PIC microcontroller that essentially doubles the chip count and cost of a board.  AND, you still cannot operate the SX without physically disconnecting the programing interface and installing a resonator or crystal.

The SX-Key has several goodies, but Parallax also produced the SX-Blitz as a low cost 'student' version.  Since the SX-Blitz is so reasonable, there really in little reason to build a Fluffy2 unless you are a die hard DIYer.

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