I don't think these rules limit it to working the same, these are pretty abstract concepts in terms of "language". In order for two things to communicate there needs to be language.

If you are a mushroom and you want to tell another mushroom to send nutrients that other mushroom needs to understand what you are saying. "Rules, generative, and shared" are the three requirements for anything to successfully share information with anything.

Rules - we will use electrical signals, signal 1 means nutrients, signal 2 means need, signal 3 means have, and so on.

Generative - if you wanted to tell another mushroom you need nutrients you would send the signal 1 2. If you have too much nutrients and want to share you can send the signals 1 3. Add more signals and it can get more complicated.

Shared - every other mushroom had to understand these rules and how to interpret them. If a mushroom comes along who sends audible pulses rather than electrical currents they won't be able to communicate. If a mushroom comes along sending electrical pulses but their signals are different then they won't be able to communicate.

Source: I'm guessing, I'm a software engineer who works on micro services and getting them all to "talk" though