Re: URL +1, LSID -1

On 7/11/07, Mark Wilkinson <markw@illuminae.com> wrote:
>
> On Tue, 10 Jul 2007 23:34:10 -0700, Alan Ruttenberg
> <alanruttenberg@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > The cost of using an http identifier, and providing a 303 and a pointer
> > to more information, instead of using an LSID, seems a small cost to
> > satisfy this community.
>
>
> Please correct me if I am wrong - I just re-read the spec for 303 and I
> believe I am interpreting it properly... though I may not be!

The TAG has the same worry as me, that a 200 response will be *taken*
to mean that the resource is an IR, when it isn't. So the TAG says
please don't give a 200 in that case, return anything else instead.
They came up with 303 as the most likely something else. I agree that
this is not part of the HTTP spec. It is merely a recommendation
intended to teach the difference between an IR and a non-IR.
(citation: httpRange-14)  This is not elegant, and not very
well-defined or reliable, but it is better than nothing.

not info resource --> not 200 --> how about 303

> What
> worries me about the 303 solution (other than that we are not using it for
> it's primary purpose [1]) is that the redirection can only be to a
> *single* resource, specified in the Location header.

If this is an important functionality then it can be provided in a
variety of ways - a mere matter of programming. LSID resolver happens
to be the only way that comes ready made. But the functionality
doesn't need to be tied to the use of LSIDs.

> As I've said before, I think that LSIDs solve a *very specific subset* of
> problems that don't seem to be raised very often in the discussions on
> this list because they aren't "typical" situations... at the moment!

I'm willing to believe this. I think I'm close to having a short list
of the features that LSID users like, and I think we can reproduce
most or all of them inside the http: URI scheme. But I would really
like to hear from you and other LSID users which features they find
essential. Ability to get metadata (assuming you have a resolver) is
one good feature, ability to spot unchanging "pieces of data" is
another, and you've given another above. The answers can be brief,
since the rationales have already been presented.

I would also like to see an LSID HOWTO for consumers of LSIDs. Perhaps
this exists already. But right now, if I get an LSID in some email, I
haven't a clue how to track down an LSID resolver that knows about it
(although via google I learned that sourceforge might be a good place
to start).

Received on Thursday, 12 July 2007 10:57:38 UTC