Re: canonical definition of RDF?

On 4/7/11 10:41 AM, Alex Hall wrote:
> On Thu, Apr 7, 2011 at 10:22 AM, Ted Thibodeau Jr 
> <tthibodeau@openlinksw.com <mailto:tthibodeau@openlinksw.com>> wrote:
>
>     All --
>
>     Forgive a newb-ish question from a newly nominated member...
>
>     I'm struggling with authoritatively answering a conversational
>     question -- "What *is* RDF?" -- without falling back to markup
>     and serialization.
>
>
> Peter gave an excellent answer to that question on this list:
>
> http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/public-rdf-wg/2011Mar/0673.html
>
> It's not canonical but it's highly informative, and if you haven't 
> read it already then it's a good place to start.

That's a nice definition of RDF Schema :-)

Ted seeks a similar definition of RDF.


Kingsley
>
>
>     I can't find a canonical definition that satisfies my understanding
>     of the reality.
>
>
>     I've found several different descriptions, but none feel much like
>     a definition beyond acronym expansion, and they disagree with each
>     other -- even the 3 TRs which were published simultaneously --
>     <snip/>
>
>     Is there an existing authoritative answer (which maybe even the
>     most sacred historical electronic document might be updated to
>     point to, even as it retains its operational definition in-line
>     for historical context)?
>
>
> You're not alone in that respect -- newcomers to RDF who try to absorb 
> it by poring through the specs usually come away disappointed.  It 
> generally takes people several months to gain a clear understanding of 
> what RDF *is*.  My advice to a newcomer would be:
>
> 0. Read the message from Peter linked above (and I wouldn't mind 
> seeing this incorporated into the Primer).
> 1. Read the Primer (but disregard anything about RDF/XML as nobody 
> tends to use that these days except for legacy reasons).
> 2. Download Jena or a similar RDF toolkit, work through some 
> tutorials, write a toy program or two.
> 3. Come back to the specs when you have specific questions that need 
> answering.
>
> -Alex
>
>
>     Thanks for your help,
>
>     Ted
>
>
>
>
>
>     --
>     A: Yes. http://www.guckes.net/faq/attribution.html
>     | Q: Are you sure?
>     | | A: Because it reverses the logical flow of conversation.
>     | | | Q: Why is top posting frowned upon?
>
>     Ted Thibodeau, Jr.           //               voice
>     +1-781-273-0900 x32
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>


-- 

Regards,

Kingsley Idehen	
President&  CEO
OpenLink Software
Web: http://www.openlinksw.com
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