- From: Tim Berners-Lee <timbl@w3.org>
- Date: Mon, 24 Sep 2001 14:15:22 -0400
- To: "Larry Masinter" <masinter@parc.xerox.com>, <harald.alvestrand@maxware.no>, "Dan Zigmond" <djz@corp.webtv.net>, "Rich Petke" <rpetke@wcom.net>
- Cc: <uri@w3.org>, "Dan Connolly" <connolly@w3.org>
I note, for includion in a future version of http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc2718.txt that there is a very high cost associated with the deployment of new URI schemes. There a number of flexibility points in web architecture, and those such as Content-Type, and XML Namespace creation have a much lower cost. The Web depends on a very high shared knowledge of the properties of URI schemes. New ones should only be introduced is absolutely necessary. Content-Types should be defined by URIs, as are XML Namespaces. These then leverage the existing URI schemes to anchor thier meanings in the web. This allows anyone to make a local private Content-Type or namespace for their own use. This does NOT apply to URI schemes. The process has to be rooted somewhere, and that root is the URI spec and the *small* set of URI schemes. I would recommend that this be emphasized. Specific examples of the creation of arbitrary trivial schemes such as the "webdav:" have violated this rule in the past. Tim Berners-Lee http://www.w3.org/People/Berners-Lee
Received on Monday, 24 September 2001 14:16:00 UTC