Re: update RFC 2396

On Tue, Apr 30, 2002 at 10:08:01PM -0700, Larry Masinter wrote:
> I'm getting some pressure to update RFC 2396, if only
> to incorporate RFC 2732 (the IPv6 modifications) and
> related errata. (Well, to be honest, I'm getting pressure
> to update RFC 2732, but I'd rather just incorporate the
> change in an updated 2396).
> 
> We'd recycle it at Draft Standard, wait 6 months, and
> then go for Standard. I think it's about time URI went
> to Standard anyway.
> 
> Of course, I don't think it will be possible to avoid
> dealing with the URI/URL/URN issue while we're at it,
> but it seems inevitable, and we might as well start now.
> 
> Opinions?

I think the concensus built in the IG and reported in 
draft-mealling-uri-ig-02.txt is a good place to start.
Especially the recommendation:

  1.  The W3C and IETF should jointly develop and endorse a model for
       URIs, URLs and URNs consistent with the '"Contemporary View"
       described in section 1, and which considers the additional URI
       issues listed or alluded to in section 3.

Just so you wont' have to go dig the draft up, this is the "Contemporary
View":

   Over time, the importance of this additional level of hierarchy
   seemed to lessen; the view became that an individual scheme does not
   need to be cast into one of a discrete set of URI types such as
   "URL", "URN", "URC", etc.  Web-identifer schemes are in general URI
   schemes; a given URI scheme may define subspaces.  Thus "http:" is a
   URI scheme.  "urn:" is also a URI scheme; it defines subspaces,
   called "namespaces".  For example, the set of URNs of the form
   "urn:isbn:n-nn-nnnnnn-n" is a URN namespace.  ("isbn" is an URN
   namespace identifier.  It is not a "URN scheme" nor a "URI scheme").

   Further according to the contemporary view, the term "URL" does not
   refer to a formal partition of URI space; rather, URL is a useful but
   informal concept: a URL is a type of URI that identifies a resource
   via a representation of its primary access mechanism (e.g., its
   network "location"), rather than by some other attributes it may
   have.  Thus as we noted, "http:" is a URI scheme.  An http URI is a
   URL.  The phrase "URL scheme" is now used infrequently, usually to
   refer to some subclass of URI schemes which exclude URNs.

-MM

-- 
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Michael Mealling	|      Vote Libertarian!       | urn:pin:1
michael@neonym.net      |                              | http://www.neonym.net

Received on Wednesday, 1 May 2002 09:24:31 UTC