Re: ISSUE-66: LinkedData™

On 8/4/14 9:49 PM, Erik Wilde wrote:
> hello.
>
> i raised this issue on github, but then markus pointed out that 
> discussions should be on the mailing list, and not on github. so 
> here's the issue:
>
> https://github.com/HydraCG/Specifications/issues/66
>
> since i have a lot of people asking this question, i am wondering if 
> it would be helpful (and appropriate) to specifically define linked 
> data as the RDF flavor of linked data (with this latter one being the 
> more generic concept of just "data that is linked"). we as a community 
> have had this discussion ad nauseam, but not everybody is following 
> the community closely. i don't want to start a discussion about the 
> topic itself, i am simply suggesting to make it clear to readers not 
> knowing the history of the term that the spec is specifically about 
> the RDF flavor. that helps people a lot, at least those people i talk 
> to that get confused about rather generic terms such as "linked data" 
> or "web of data", and the more constrained ways in which the 
> communities are using those terms. my personal history about this goes 
> back to 
> http://dret.typepad.com/dretblog/2009/11/the-linked-data-police.html, 
> and if people think it would be appropriate and helpful to add some 
> clarification, i can contribute a paragraph or two.
>
> thanks,
>
> dret

Having dealt with this matter, in different guises, for years, I simply 
decided to my experiential perspective (definitions and illustrations) 
in the following:


[1] http://bit.ly/1cchBvV -- Glossary of Terms (my personal data space 
edition)
[2] http://bit.ly/1qshGQf -- ditto hosted on the OpenLink site
[3] http://slidesha.re/1o6M8jh -- covers Linked Data, RDF, Semantic Web 
and more (includes illustrations too!).

Some Q&A:

Can you have Linked Data without knowing anything about RDF? Yes you 
can. That doesn't necessarily mean you aren't using RDF i.e., using RDF 
unknowingly doesn't mean you aren't using it.

How does RDF differ from Linked Data (as outlined in TimbL's Linked Data 
meme) ? By mandating IRIs as opposed to HTTP URIs when crafting RDF 
statements. Basically, with RDF you can craft digital sentences 
(sentences comprised of words) or statements (sentences comprised of 
terms). With Linked Data you are crafting digital statements using RDF 
language (system of signs, syntax, and role semantics [model theory]), 
knowingly or unknowingly.

To cut a long story really short, Linked Data has driven the Web since 
its inception [1], even before the W3C created any workgroup related to 
RDF. What RDF did was formalize (via the W3C) the use of IRIs to 
construct digital sentences (using subject, predicate, object abstract 
syntax)  that worked naturally within the existing Web. Basically, every 
so-called document web URL denotes a thing (that's to be of type: 
foaf:Document or more recently, schema:WebPage) and each of the 
aforementioned URL resolves to a connotation (or representation) of said 
URL's referent.

The reality above got derailed by the following:

1. Conflation of RDF the language with notations that could be used to 
create documents comprised of RDF content -- every RDF war ultimately 
unveils this problem

2. Failure to invest more time in a variety (as opposed to singular) of 
RDF narratives and supporting anecdotes -- too often, RDF specs are 
easily perceived (or misconceived) as weasel-like initiatives that push 
a specific RDF notation (e.g, RDF/XML, RDFa, Turtle, and JSON-LD ).

Conclusion:

The entire Web runs on Linked Data. Understanding that this is what RDF 
attempts to formalize remains unclear to many developers of Web 
applications and services.

Links:

[1] http://bit.ly/10Y9FL1 -- Original Web Proposal & Linked Data (pre., 
any notion of RDF)
[2] http://bit.ly/WAJGCp -- Linked Data in a single slide
[3] http://www.wikihow.com/Differentiate-Between-a-Term-and-a-Word .

-- 
Regards,

Kingsley Idehen 
Founder & CEO
OpenLink Software
Company Web: http://www.openlinksw.com
Personal Weblog 1: http://kidehen.blogspot.com
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