RE: Naming things with hashes (not #, but e.g. md5)

On Tue, 10 Apr 2012, Larry Masinter wrote:

> httpRange-14 is about trying to give a meaning to URIs other than the 
> meaning that derives naturally from the interpretation of the URI in an 
> a@href. Thus, I think httpRange-14 is based on a presumption that is 
> false.
>
> The "ni:" scheme is about naming content which is static. If the content 
> changes then the hash changes, and so the name no longer applies.

I would say immutable rather than static, but yes, hashes can only 
identify immutable content, which might still be useful in some cases (ex: 
distribution of content known to be constant over time, like dtds
linked from W3C Recommendations / network resilience).

> Meaning and persistence are intimately tied together: if you ask for a 
> name to be "persistent", what you're asking to persist is its meaning. 
> If you ask what a name "means", you're asking about what of its mapping 
> to meaning you want to persist.

"Everything has been said, provided words do not change their meanings, 
and meanings their words."

> Anyway: you can't name "things" with hashes, you can only name static 
> content.

Yes, so I consider this orthogonal to hr14, but still useful for other 
issues.

-- 
Baroula que barouleras, au tiéu toujou t'entourneras.

         ~~Yves

Received on Wednesday, 11 April 2012 21:25:39 UTC