Re: Distributing the user interface for social networks

On 7/9/12 11:20 AM, Evan Prodromou wrote:
> Melvin,
>
> There's obviously some differences on the subject, but if you insist 
> on HTTP URIs for account identifiers, feel free to change 
> "evan@example.com" to "http://example.com/evan" in the examples.
>
> -Evan
>

Evan,

It could be any of the following, you are conflating a URI with an http: 
scheme URI just because http: URLs are prevalent on the Web. I don't 
want to open up a can of worms here, but to cut a long story short you 
have a choice of:

1. mailto:evan@example.com -- downside is that when used as an @href 
attribute value it will trigger invocation of email clients

2. acct:evan@example.com -- downside, you need to implement a resolver 
(e.g. via a protocol like Webfinger) then get existing browsers to 
include handlers i.e., Webfinger URL transformation and invocation

3. http://example.com/evan#this -- so that you leverage *implicit* 
indirection en route to keeping <http://example.com/evan#this> 
(real-world entity name/denotation) and <http://example.com/evan> 
(resource/document) distinct

4. http://example.com/evan -- but you need *explicit* indirection (using 
303 redirection) en route to keeping <http://example.com/evan> 
(real-world entity name/denotation) and 
<http://example.com/doc/evan.{doc-type-extension}> (resource/document) 
distinct .

URIs are very powerful when we put the abstraction to use. To assume 
they are simply http: scheme URLs ultimately leads to confusion that 
undermines the solid architectural virtues inherent in URI abstraction.

URIs are the kernel of the Web. HTML is the fluff that got everyone one 
going. At the architecture of the world wide web is much more 
sophisticated than is obvious due to the ingenuity and dexterity of URIs.


-- 

Regards,

Kingsley Idehen	
Founder & CEO
OpenLink Software
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