Thermal and phase properties of nuclear systems are briefly reviewed within an information theory approach. Such theory allows treating on the same ground extended systems at the thermodynamic limit, as nuclear matter in the inner crust of neutron stars, and finite size, short-lived systems, as excited nuclei produced in heavy ion collisions. Different related issues including the pertinence of equilibrium in systems finite in size and time, ensemble inequivalence, and the effect of Coulomb interactions are discussed.