Re: namespace usage as assertions

Larry Masinter wrote:
> ...  We're not very troubled with the distinction
> between 'is there a name for it?' and 'does it exist?'.
> 
> I'm not sure why we're having trouble with similar distinctions between
> a URI and the resource that might be identified by it. Words and phrases
> are coined to name the previously unnamable, just as we invent URIs and
> URI schemes.
> 

One reason is that the recommendation proclaims that namespace
identifiers concern the first question only ('is there a name for it?'),
but then uses in its examples identifers which entail the second
question ('does it exist?'). This could be fixed with a simple editorial change.
Another reason is that, from the position "a namespace 'is' a language",
the second question subsumes the first.