Re: What is a URL? And What is a URI

On 11/12/10 4:22 AM, Dave Reynolds wrote:
> On Thu, 2010-11-11 at 12:52 -0500, Kingsley Idehen wrote:
>> All,
>>
>> As the conversation about HTTP responses evolves, I am inclined to
>> believe that most still believe that:
>>
>> 1. URL is equivalent to a URI
>> 2. URI is a fancier term for URI
>> 3. URI is equivalent to URL.
>>
>> I think my opinion on this matter is clear, but I am very interested
>> in the views of anyone that don't agree with the following:
>>
>> 1. URI is an abstraction for Identifiers that work at InterWeb scale
>> 2. A URI can serve as a Name
>> 3. A URI can serve as an Address
>> 4. A Name != Address
>> 5. We locate Data at Addresses
>> 6. Names can be used to provide indirection to Addresses i.e., Names
>> can Resolve to Data.
> Why would this be a matter of opinion? :)
>
> After all RFC3986 et al are Standards Track and have quite clear
> statements on what Identifier connotes in the context of URI.
> Such as:
>
> """
> Identifier
>
>        An identifier embodies the information required to distinguish
>        what is being identified from all other things within its scope of
>        identification.  Our use of the terms "identify" and "identifying"
>        refer to this purpose of distinguishing one resource from all
>        other resources, regardless of how that purpose is accomplished
>        (e.g., by name, address, or context).  These terms should not be
>        mistaken as an assumption that an identifier defines or embodies
>        the identity of what is referenced, though that may be the case
>        for some identifiers.  Nor should it be assumed that a system
>        using URIs will access the resource identified: in many cases,
>        URIs are used to denote resources without any intention that they
>        be accessed.
> """
>
> Dave
>
>
>
Dave,


IMHO. DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM) Service Overview (RFC) [1] has a 
clearer definition:

A person, organization, place, idea, subject matter topic/heading, and 
other real world things possess "identity" -- that is, a constellation 
of characteristics that distinguish them from any other identity. 
Associated with this abstraction can be a label used as a reference, or 
"identifier". This is the distinction between a thing and the name of 
the thing.


1. http://www.dkim.org/specs/rfc5585.html -- DomainKeys Identified Mail 
(DKIM) Service Overview RFC


-- 

Regards,

Kingsley Idehen 
President&  CEO
OpenLink Software
Web: http://www.openlinksw.com
Weblog: http://www.openlinksw.com/blog/~kidehen
Twitter/Identi.ca: kidehen