Re: Proposed Status Categories for URI Scheme registry

On Fri, 21 Jan 2005 09:33:11 -0500, Weibel,Stu <weibel@oclc.org> wrote:

> Proposed status categories for a URI Scheme registry
>
> Permanent
>
>    Documented by Standards Track RFC
>    Unique token assured
>   Provisional
>
>    Documented by at least an Informational RFC
>    Unique token assured

> Vernacular (wild-type)
>
>   Documentation unspecified (none | author-managed |
> community-managed...)
>   No assurance of unique token

But one of the problems with any non-unique token, whether of the  
Vernacular type, or of the Provisional type as some on this list seem to  
prefer,
is that it precludes progressing it to the standards track so that it may  
become permanent. It it is going to have to be changed before it can get  
standardized, and if it has been well enough received by the community to  
be worth standardizing, then you get in the most horrid mess. We have been  
there before with all sort of protocols which have invented an X-Header,  
or an x-token, which has come into widespread use and then found to be  
unstandarizable without changing it to something without an 'X'.  
Thereafter, implementations keep on having to provide _both_ forms in  
order to avoid customer revolt. That is the whole point of provisional  
registries - they allow a proper token to be 'booked' in advance, thus  
ensuring that it will become standardizable if/when the time comes.

> Historic
>
>    Deprecated or superceded schemes, as designated by the IETF
>    recyclability of token an open question [would one ever want to
> allow, gopher: to re-emerge?]

Indeed. The only way out of this dilemma is to provide some mechanism for  
getting unwanted tokens _off_ the register.

-- 
Charles H. Lindsey ---------At Home, doing my own thing------------------------
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Received on Saturday, 22 January 2005 03:12:53 UTC