Re: LDP a replacement for WebDav?

> From: Brent Shambaugh <brent.shambaugh@gmail.com 
> <mailto:brent.shambaugh@gmail.com?Subject=Re%3A%20LDP%20a%20replacement%20for%20WebDav%3F&In-Reply-To=%3CCACvcBVo2eOY%2BcRTjgxmX-mopJx%2BnGyb4pMayJmijga88GRqAAg%40mail.gmail.com%3E&References=%3CCACvcBVo2eOY%2BcRTjgxmX-mopJx%2BnGyb4pMayJmijga88GRqAAg%40mail.gmail.com%3E>>
> Date: Thu, 6 Apr 2017 17:33:30 -0500
> Message-ID: 
> <CACvcBVo2eOY+cRTjgxmX-mopJx+nGyb4pMayJmijga88GRqAAg@mail.gmail.com>
> To: public-rww <public-rww@w3.org 
> <mailto:public-rww@w3.org?Subject=Re%3A%20LDP%20a%20replacement%20for%20WebDav%3F&In-Reply-To=%3CCACvcBVo2eOY%2BcRTjgxmX-mopJx%2BnGyb4pMayJmijga88GRqAAg%40mail.gmail.com%3E&References=%3CCACvcBVo2eOY%2BcRTjgxmX-mopJx%2BnGyb4pMayJmijga88GRqAAg%40mail.gmail.com%3E>>
>
> Dear all,
>
> I think this is correct? I'm going to conclude that the Linked Data
> Platform is a replacement for WebDAV with Semantic Web enhancements.
> ....


I don't think I've seen a direct answer, so ....

No, it's not.

LDP is not a replacement for WebDAV, it serves a completely different 
purpose.  Other than using HTTP as transport, and XML for representing 
properties, they're completely different beasts.

To elaborate:

WebDAV is a network file system.  It's used to mount and access 
directories & files across the net, using HTTP for transport. (The RFCs 
somewhat obscure this simple definition, but the webdav.org web site 
puts it very concisely:  "... WebDAV .. is a set of extensions to the 
HTTP protocol which allows users to collaboratively edit and manage 
files on remote web servers."

It's not all that popular, compared to say SAMBA, AFP, or NFS, but both 
Windows & Macs provide native support for mounting WebDAV file systems - 
for example, in the Mac Finder, select go>connect_to_server, enter a URL 
of the form "http://server/path - and the directory will show up as just 
another folder on your desktop (assuming there's a DAV server at that URL).

It happens that WebDAV include a bunch of functions for manipulating 
properties attached to those files, that go significantly beyond what's 
needed for remote file access, but that's incidental.

----

LDP is primarily a way to manipulate semantic data, expressed as RDF 
triples, across the net, again building on HTTP.  Essentially, it's a 
way to assemble collections of RDF data into a distributed database.

It happens that the RDF is generally stored in files (though it can also 
be stored in databases), and that RDF triples often express properties 
of files & relations among files (e.g., allowing one to search for and 
access files based on properties) - but it is not a file system.  One 
would not, for example, mount an RDF file system.  (One might browse a 
distributed collection of Linked Data using a browser with a semantic 
data plug-in installed.)



-- 
In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice.
In practice, there is.  .... Yogi Berra