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Re: URIs and Names on the Web

• To: "Joshua Allen" <joshuaa@m...>,<xml-dev@l...>
• Subject: Re: URIs and Names on the Web
• From: "Jonathan Borden" <jborden@a...>
• Date: Tue, 29 Oct 2002 08:43:33 -0500
• References: <4F4182C71C1FDD4BA0937A7EB7B8B4C105DCDDF4@r...>

Joshua Allen wrote:

[[
Maybe this is different issue from using URNs in the triples, because
there is no problem using URNs in all of the triples and publishing them
over HTTP.  But anyway, this is an important architectural question for
a semantic web: "How do I publish, distribute, and query metadata?"
]]

Or use HTTP URIs in all the triples and publish them at another HTTP URI. It
all works.

[[
Which query do you think will be most important for the semantic web:

a) take me to a site that tells me one person's opinion about
predicate/subject "X"
b) tell me what people have said about resource "Y" with regards to
predicate "X"
c) tell me what people are saying about predicate/subject "X"
...

Using an http: identifier to identify something that is not a hypermedia
server is only helpful in scenario "a", and scenario "a" doesn't have
much to do with the semantic web, IMO.
]]

Yes well Google, seems to provide something akin to (b) and (c) for HTTP
URIs. You can do a perfectly good rdf:about=http://example.org/foo#bar . You
will _always_ be making a statement _about_ the resource, not any of its
representations.

[[
So in any case where you are going to an http: URL to get some
information about an XSD schema based on the namespace name, you are
getting the opinion of one person (albeit, likely the person who first
created the schema), and you know that the information could quite
likely be out of date or incorrect.  In other words, you never *depend*
on the information.
]]

a) this is a problem with the HTTP based Web that has not been solved by any
other system of its magnitude. HTTP with all its warts remains far better
than any of its supposed alternatives.
b) the issues of "belief" and "trust" are truly difficult issues that don't
magically go away if you were to choose to use URNs.

Jonathan

• References:
  • RE: URIs and Names on the Web
    • From: "Joshua Allen" <joshuaa@m...>

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