For non-equilibrium scenarios, in an approximation that assumes local thermodynamic equilibrium, with the maximum entropy approach, the Onsager reciprocal relations and the Green–Kubo relations fall out directly. The approach also creates a theoretical framework for the study of some very special cases of far-from-equilibrium scenarios, making the derivation of the entropy production fluctuation theorem straightforward. For non-equilibrium processes, as is so for macroscopic descriptions, a general definition of entropy for microscopic statistical mechanical accounts is also lacking.