- From: Tim Bray <tbray@textuality.com>
- Date: Mon, 21 Jul 2003 10:10:25 -0700
- To: pat hayes <phayes@ihmc.us>
- Cc: Michael Mealling <michael@neonym.net>, www-tag@w3.org
pat hayes wrote:
>> They don't exist on the Web till they have a URI. What's
>> controversial about that?
>
> Well, maybe nothing. What does 'exist on the Web' mean?
"Exists on the Web" means "has a URI".
> What is the
> difference between "exists" and "exists on the Web" ? Are these related
> in any way? I guess I find it odd to talk of something being brought
> into (any kind of) existence by something that happens on the Web.
"Exists on the Web" is condition in the Web Architecture's formalism
that arises as a consequence of having a URI. This condition's
intersection with the real-world phenomenon of the same name is an
interesting problem, but (I think) not one that we need to address.
> I take existence to mean actual existence, right? Being something in the
> actual world, as in "Sherlock Holmes does not exist".
Not at all. This is a formalism.
--
Cheers, Tim Bray
(ongoing fragmented essay: http://www.tbray.org/ongoing/)
Received on Monday, 21 July 2003 13:10:25 UTC