RE: tel: or phone:

Hello all,

y-koga@w3.mag.keio.ac.jp:
> I have -01.txt, -03.txt, and -04.txt. The version history about
> telephone scheme is:

> -01.txt(19-Sep-1997): "tel"
> -02.txt(??-???-1997): "telephone"? (there are no change bars about
>                       telephone in -03.txt)
> -03.txt(21-Nov-1997): "telephone"
> -04.txt(23-Feb-1998): "phone"

Yes, the scheme specifier has changed quite a few times. Originally, it
started as "callto", which stemmed from the similar "mailto" scheme.
However, this scheme specifier was dumped because it already had
implementations using it for different purposes and describing the
action ("call to") in a resource _locator_ is not acceptable.

The next form was "tel". I received a couple of mails from individuals
which felt that "tel" does not necessarily imply clearly which
telecommunications service would be used (as most of them begin with
"tel"), so I decided to try "telephone", which is recommended by ITU-T
E.123 (Notation for National and International Telephone Numbers),
section 1.3.

This scheme name was found to be too long by several individuals, and it
is also true that the full word "telephone" is perhaps not as well
'internationally acceptable' as the shorter "tel". Also, E.123 specifies
that the word "telephone" should be written 'in the appropriate
language' - which, in this case, does not well defend its
internationality.

"Phone" was then proposed, but, unfortunately, everybody seemed to have
lost interest in the Internet-Draft and nobody cared to comment on the
suitability of that scheme until recently.

Judging from the amount of positive feedback on "tel", I think that it
would be the best solution. Also, I was informed that implementations
which use "tel" already exist, so the draft would then be consistent
with the current practice as well (which is the ultimate goal, isn't
it).

Best regards,

Antti

--
antti.vaha-sipila@nmp.nokia.com - Personal: avs@iki.fi
Replying to a mailing list? Cc: me.
Opinions are mine, not of my employer.

Received on Thursday, 25 June 1998 02:52:39 UTC