Re: policy for rdf: namespace? was Re: Vocab terms for owner, validFrom and validUntil

Sandro,

I think the rdf: namespace should be managed just like the www.w3.org/TR/ space: The only way to put new terms into the namespace, or modifying existing terms, is by chartering a WG and stating the scope of the namespace update in its charter.

(The RDF WG is chartered to update RDF Schema, and since the rdf: namespace currently is just a reflection of the contents of that document, an update to the namespace is trivially in scope for the RDF WG.)

Best,
Richard


On 14 May 2012, at 22:45, Sandro Hawke wrote:

> On Fri, 2012-05-04 at 00:21 -0400, Manu Sporny wrote:
>> We have created 3 terms for the PaySwarm vocabulary that we think may be
>> better off in the rdf or rdfs vocabulary. They have to do with
>> "resources" on the Web.
> 
> Reading over this thread, I think we need a policy about what goes into
> the rdf: and rdfs: namespaces.   Until we have that, we can't sensibly
> decide about whether any particular terms should go there.
> 
> I think it's fair to say whatever policy was used originally, in the
> 90s, is painfully out of date.  Since then, the lack of policy has meant
> the namespace has stagnated.
> 
> Of course we're tremendously constrained by existing deployments, but I
> think it would be good to distinguish between what *should* be there as
> best practice, and what is merely there for backward compatibility.
> 
> Also, as I've pointed out many times, I don't think the Semantic Web
> (even in the simplified schema.org vision) can possibly work
> until/unless clients are willing to allow for synonyms.  To say that
> there can only ever be one correct name for the things that rdfs:comment
> or foaf:Person names is ... unworkable.
> 
>> The first is the canonical "owner" of a resource on the Web. Keep in
>> mind that this is different from dc:creator and those types of
>> expressions. It could be used to establish the owner of a financial
>> account (that uses a web address), a public key that is published to the
>> Web, or a variety of other pieces of information that "belong" to an IRI
>> identifier (like a person's identifier).
> 
> I'd love to dive into the ontology-design questions here, but ... I
> think that's out of scope for this group.   I'm kind of baffled who
> might handle this.  A community group seems like overkill, but might be
> okay.  I think broad, upper-ontology concepts are tricky that way.
> 
>> The second and third are validity periods for particular pieces of
>> information - like when is an offer for a good or service valid from/to?
>> When was a home address valid from/to? When was a public key valid from/to?
> 
> This is also out of scope here, but IMO very relevant to GRAPHs, as a
> use case.
> 
> Please read:
> http://dvcs.w3.org/hg/rdf/raw-file/default/rdf-spaces/index.html#example-validtime
> 
> I suggest some group of us put together a simple spec, and use a
> namespace like http://www.w3.org/ns/valid-time#.   We can publish it as
> a Web page, Submission, or some group's Note for now.
> 
> I note that the GLD-WG is chartered to RECOMMEND a best practice for
> this, but hasn't dealt with it yet.  To do this right, I think the group
> has to understand bitemporal databases, since governments often need to
> publish data that holds for some time period, and yet will be
> amended/corrected at various times afterward.
> 
>   -- Sandro
> 
>> When describing resources on the Web, these three items seem like they'd
>> be vital for establishing ownership and information validity periods.
>> Should they go in the RDF or RDFS vocabulary?
>> 
>> -- manu
>> 
> 
> 
>

Received on Friday, 18 May 2012 10:25:24 UTC