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RE: The RDDL name, was :Re: RDDL

• To: 'Jonathan Borden' <jborden@m...>, "'xml-dev@l...'" <xml-dev@l...>
• Subject: RE: The RDDL name, was :Re: RDDL
• From: Nicolas LEHUEN <nicolas.lehuen@u...>
• Date: Fri, 18 Jan 2002 16:50:15 +0100

OK thanks for the explanation, since the pun was way out of my frenchy mind.
Now that you pointed this to me, I'll be less of a tenderfoot in this
american world :).

Cheers,
Nicolas

>-----Message d'origine-----
>De : Jonathan Borden [mailto:jborden@m...]
>Envoyé : vendredi 18 janvier 2002 16:40
>À : xml-dev@l...
>Objet :  The RDDL name, was :Re:  RDDL
>
>
>Nicholas,
>
>" OK. Following RFC 2396, namespaces are resources because 
>they have an URI.
>But resources aren't namespace. Hence, RDDL should be named NDL."
>
>A few points: First, every namespace is a URI, and conversely 
>_every URI can
>be a namespace name_, hence there is no absolute distinction 
>between the
>two, aside from how they are intended to be used. But I've 
>already said that
>I believe the definition of a "Resource" is hopeless, so 
>there's not much
>point in pursuing this line of reasoning futher.
>
>The real reason RDDL is named RDDL is a little joke. The 
>acronym "RDDL" is
>pronounced like the English word "riddle". My little joke is 
>that everyone
>was wondering: what is at the end of a namespace URI? No one 
>had an answer.
>"perhaps nothing", "perhaps something". This confused many people who
>thought that every URI was associated with a _document_. Of 
>course we know
>that this is not the case by definition, but nonetheless, 
>there is a common
>_expectation_ that typing a URI into a browser will result in something
>appearing on the screen.
>
>A good rule for the Web, and systems in general, is the 
>concept of least
>surprise, and XML Namespace URIs which use the "http" scheme and aren't
>associated with a document violate that rule. Hence the 
>"riddle": what is
>there?
>
>RDDL. It is a play on words. The name happens to be reasonably good:
>"Resource Directory Description Language". It describes 
>_directories_ or
>collections of resources. RDDL was not the first name proposed 
>but all the
>back and forth is in the XML-DEV archives. So in the interest of a good
>acronym we use "resource" vs. "namespace". You must realize 
>that we have
>priorities :-) and try not to take names too seriously because this all
>should be just a little fun.
>
>Jonathan
>
>
>
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