Re: Taguri.org Misinformation

> I'm disappointed to see this misinformation on the taguri.org website:
> 
> [[[
> Are all tag URIs also URNs? Can the meaning of a tag change?
> 
> That depends on what you mean by URN (Uniform Resource Name) and "meaning".
> One sense of URN is that if you give a URN to some software, you should get
> essentially the same behavior, regardless of who you are, where you are, or
> when you do this. In that sense, tags are probably not URNs. Given a tag for
> a can of beans, it would be completely appropriate for a handheld device to
> tell you the price of the can when you're standing in a store and some
> cooking instructions when you're standing in a kitchen.
> 
> Another sense of URNs is that they always "mean the same thing." Where
> http://www.corinthians.com/ was once a site about the Bible, it is now
> (following a WIPO decision) a site about a Brazilian sports team. We do not
> expect tag URIs to ever undergo this kind of deep change of meaning, but we
> do not know how to define constancy of meaning in the general case. Does
> http://www.cnn.com change meaning every hour?
> ]]] - http://www.taguri.org/
> 
> I know we've discussed this several times, and I don't wish to open that can
> of worms again, but this is plainly untrue. URNs have the same properties as
> URIs in this respect, if not more so. Please correct the site.

Ah yes, these are based on the Classic view of URNs, not the
Contemporary one.   Now that that distinction has been published (?) I
guess I can remove this.   I still wonder about WTF a URN is aside
from a part of the URI namespace that's less well controlled, but I
guess I don't care.

     -- sandro

Received on Tuesday, 4 December 2001 20:59:24 UTC