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Re: Comparable considered necessary

• To: Dare Obasanjo <dareo@m...>, xml-dev@l...
• Subject: Re: Comparable considered necessary
• From: Paul Prescod <paul@p...>
• Date: Tue, 13 Aug 2002 10:36:10 -0400
• References: <8BD7226E07DDFF49AF5EF4030ACE0B7E06621F1A@r...>

Dare Obasanjo wrote:
> 
> A location is not equivalent to an identifier. I can't do a search 
> and replace of "Microsoft" with  "One Microsoft Way, Redmond, WA 
> 98052" in every document I own and have it make sense in every usage 
> or most usages for that matter. However TBL, Fieldings et al have 
> decided to conflate the two concepts with the URN/URL/URI situation.

Actually, if you search and replace "Microsoft" with "Microsoft Corp, of
One Microsoft Way, Redmond WA, US" then you have an identifier that can
be used as a locator when necessary. It also has the virtue that the
identifier "Microsoft" could be reused (e.g. for national subsidiaries).

And in fact it is quite common for news articles about companies to
identify them in part by the locations of their headquarters.

* http://www.w3.org/DesignIssues/NameMyth.html

> A location is not equivalent to an identifier.

"The discussion above about the universality of URIs (Universal Resource
Identifiers) mentions briefly how URIs are designed to encompass both
things we think of as addresses and those we think of as names. Much of
the discussion of this issue has been clouded by attempts to distinguish
names from addresses. The term "identifier" was picked in an attempt to
side-step this issue but historically, that did not prevent a quagmire
of circular discussion which in some circles paralyzed any forward
progress."

"There is the commonly held belief that names and addresses are
different and distinct. We learn the importance of the difference
between identifiers in a programming language and addresses within a
computer memory. We learn the difference in properties between fully
qualified domain names on the internet and internet protocol addresses.
This can lead us easily into imagining that there are two types of
objects: Names, which once attached to an object follow it for its life
wherever it should reside, and "addresses" which change frequently
whenever an object moves or is copied or replicated from one "location"
to another."

-- 
"When I walk on the floor for the final execution, I'll wear a denim 
suit. I'll walk in there like Willie Nelson, John Wayne, Will Smith 
-- Men in Black -- James Brown. Maybe do a Michael Jackson moonwalk."
Congressman James Traficant.

• References:
  • RE: Comparable considered necessary
    • From: "Dare Obasanjo" <dareo@m...>

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