Re: Media types for the Semantic Web

From: Mark Baker <distobj@acm.org>
Subject: Re: Media types for the Semantic Web
Date: Wed, 31 Mar 2004 15:06:51 -0500

> On Wed, Mar 31, 2004 at 01:40:52PM -0500, Peter F. Patel-Schneider wrote:
> > > Deploying new media types is currently expensive; if you have the option
> > > between communicating some information using application/rdf+xml,
> > > instead of with application/prs.pps.foobar+rdf+xml, you should, in
> > > general, opt for the former (unless you know the recipient can handle
> > > it, of course, but obtaining that information doesn't scale).
> > 
> > Well, sure, if you have the option.  However, what if you don't?  
> > 
> > The example that I used before
> > 
> >  	ex:foo owl:sameAs ex:bar .	
> > 
> > has a different meaning when treated as an OWL ontology than when treated
> > as an RDF ontology.   Sending it as application/rdf+xml means, to me, that
> > you are sending as a triple with no special meaning attached to owl:sameAs,
> 
> Yes, it means that to me too.
> 
> > whereas if it is sent as OWL (by whatever means you like) then the triple
> > means that ex:foo and ex:bar have the same denotation.
> 
> Yes, exactly.
> 
> So by "what if you don't", do you mean that there's no equivalent
> licensed-as-RDF graph which can communicate that same information?

Precisely.  There are far more things under the sun than RDF can imagine.
(I wish I knew the source of this ``quote'' - it doesn't appear to be on
the web.)

[...]

> Mark.
> -- 
> Mark Baker.   Ottawa, Ontario, CANADA.        http://www.markbaker.ca

Peter F. Patel-Schneider
Bell Labs Research

Received on Wednesday, 31 March 2004 15:30:18 UTC