- From: Pat Hayes <phayes@ihmc.us>
- Date: Fri, 15 Jan 2010 15:31:06 -0600
- To: "Michael Schneider" <schneid@fzi.de>
- Cc: "Semantic Web" <semantic-web@w3.org>, "Jeremy Carroll" <jeremy@topquadrant.com>
On Jan 15, 2010, at 3:23 PM, Michael Schneider wrote: > Pat Hayes wrote: > >> +1. We have to be very careful about what exactly "optional" is >> supposed to mean in a standard whose intention is to support >> interoperability. If every processor is obliged to be able to process >> it, its not optional. If they aren't, then interopreability is >> compromised. >> >> Pat > > If only things would always melt down to such a simple formula... Well, simple rules are sometimes good guides to behavior. I take it that you would prefer the much more complicated advice, to let it all hang out. > > Maybe we should deprecate the "MAY" word from RFC 2119? The point of MAY is not to licence options, but to delineate the boundaries of what everyone has to agree is permitted. LIke I say, if its permitted, and if that means that your engine has to be able to cope with it somehow, then its not optional . If everyone MAY use one of three syntaxes, and it says so in the spec, then every engine is OBLIGED to be able to process all three of them. If the choice of syntax is simply optional, then we will have three incompatible communities, or the kind of chaos that we have now for RDF syntax. Pat > > SCNR, > Michael > > -- > Dipl.-Inform. Michael Schneider > Research Scientist, Information Process Engineering (IPE) > Tel : +49-721-9654-726 > Fax : +49-721-9654-727 > Email: michael.schneider@fzi.de > WWW : http://www.fzi.de/michael.schneider > = > ====================================================================== > FZI Forschungszentrum Informatik an der Universität Karlsruhe > Haid-und-Neu-Str. 10-14, D-76131 Karlsruhe > Tel.: +49-721-9654-0, Fax: +49-721-9654-959 > Stiftung des bürgerlichen Rechts, Az 14-0563.1, RP Karlsruhe > Vorstand: Prof. Dr.-Ing. Rüdiger Dillmann, Dipl. Wi.-Ing. Michael > Flor, > Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Wolffried Stucky, Prof. Dr. Rudi Studer > Vorsitzender des Kuratoriums: Ministerialdirigent Günther Leßnerkraus > = > ====================================================================== > ------------------------------------------------------------ IHMC (850)434 8903 or (650)494 3973 40 South Alcaniz St. (850)202 4416 office Pensacola (850)202 4440 fax FL 32502 (850)291 0667 mobile phayesAT-SIGNihmc.us http://www.ihmc.us/users/phayes
Received on Friday, 15 January 2010 21:31:41 UTC