Re: Re: random url for namespace to avoid uncontrollab

I suspect that this is a little off-topic for this list, but I presume
(perhaps foolishly) that the whole point of using URIs as namespaces
was precisely so one could choose a namespace that *is* under one's
control.

No one else in the world is going to use anything in the
'www.wwp.brown.edu' domain for a namespace except me. Similarly, if
you've paid gmx.net for your web-hosting services, the namespace
'http://ns.gmx.net/~noisyb/project1' (or whatever) seems perfectly
safe from other's use (until such time as you end your arrangement
with gmx.net at least).

On the other hand, lots of people *might* decide (foolishly, I would
say) to use localhost.

I don't know what, if any, legal recourse one has to protecting a
namespace, but boy I hope it never comes down to that.

> For the purpose of establishing an XML namespace, a URI (a URI
> reference, to be precise) is just treated as a string literal.
>
> So firstly, you dont have to use URLs. You may use any URI that
> is formed according to the rules of RFC 3986, be the URI scheme or
> the URI registered somewhere or not. A URI may be
> urn:ISBN:9784711081542, for example. Some XML parsers may not even
> check whether the URI is formed according to RFC 3986s rules.
> So your MD5 hash may be accepted, too.
>
> If you do use URLs, it doesnt matter by whom they are
> controlled, whether the host name part DNS-resolves, whether the
> resource they point to exists, etc. For practical purposes its
> just important to know that http://my.domain.net is a different
> identifier than http://my.domain.net/ or
> http://my.domain.net/index.html, or, as in the example given on
> http://www.w3.org/TR/xml-names/#NSNameComparison,
> http://www.example.org/~wilbur is different from
> http://www.example.org/%7ewilbur is different from
> http://www.example.org/%7Ewilbur
>
> Gerrit
>
> On 2011-08-25 07:07, Dirk wrote:
> > On 08/25/11 07:06, Dirk wrote:
> >> Hello,
> >>
> >> as a developer i have serious problems with using a URL as namespace...
> >> because ICANN does control any URL i might use... and not me or people
> >> who use the XML..
> >>
> >> so...
> >>
> >> what would be the problem (which i don't see, yet) to use something like
> >> this:
> >>
> >> xmlns:cms="http://localhost/cms/" (i would prefer this VERY MUCH)
> >>
> >> or, at least, this:
> >>
> >> xmlns:cms="http://www.example.com/cms/"
> >>
> >> or this:
> >>
> >> xmlns:cms="http://www.google.com/cms/"
> >>
> >>
> >> ...as namespace url for my XML?
> >>
> >>
> >> Regards,
> >> Dirk
> >
> > forgot one option... the best option..
> >
> > xmlns:cms="f6eeea3b9c793fb2b42e45ab5a1815eb"
> >
> > an md5 hash instead of a url as unique identifier..
> >
>
> --
> Gerrit Imsieke
> Geschdftsf|hrer / Managing Director
> le-tex publishing services GmbH
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