Re: Is 303 really necessary?

On Thu, 04 Nov 2010 18:10:02 -0400
David Booth <david@dbooth.org> wrote:

> ISSUE 1: Whether there is need to use different URIs for the toucan
> versus the toucan's web page.  Some time ago I showed that there is no
> *architectural* need to distinguish between the two:
> http://dbooth.org/2007/splitting/
> (Sorry that page is a bit messy, but the reasoning is sound.)  The
> essential reason is that the ambiguity created by using the same URI
> for both is not fundamentally different from the ambiguity that
> *always* exists when a resource is defined.

Hmmm... that is a good point. Concrete example:

<http://example.com/toucan> identifies a particular living bird.
<http://example.com/doc> identifies a document providing a description
of that bird.

Now, the Toucan has a brain transplant, swapping its brain with a
Monkey. Does <http://example.com/toucan> now identify the Toucan with a
Monkey's mind, or the Monkey with a Toucan's mind?

Sounds a little contrived? But consider
<http://dbpedia.org/resource/China> and think about China, the political
entity, as being equivalent to the Toucan's mind; and China, the
physical area, as being equivalent to its body. What happens if China's
borders change, or it divides into multiple other nations?

-- 
Toby A Inkster
<mailto:mail@tobyinkster.co.uk>
<http://tobyinkster.co.uk>

Received on Monday, 8 November 2010 08:37:36 UTC