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- From: "Simon St.Laurent" <simonstl@simonstl.com>
- To: XML-Dev Mailing list <xml-dev@lists.xml.org>
- Date: Tue, 11 Jul 2000 19:35:47 -0400
At 12:34 PM 7/11/00 -0500, Bullard, Claude L (Len) wrote:
>> the series of characters in front of the first colon in
>> a URI _do not_ identify a protocol. They identify a naming scheme.
>> <snip> The fact that
>> the 'http' and 'ftp' URI schemes has a name that corresponds with
>> a protocol is co-incidental only and has no meaning.
>
>The coincidence is part of the problem. We end up with a
>superstion about resolution. This lack of clarity seems
>to be at the root of the definitional issues.
The 'superstition' is much more broadly understood (and used) than the
purported fact.
Common URL usage has bred a widely shared set of assumptions in communities
which frequently lack any interest in URI philosophy.
I'm not convinced that the understanding of strings beginning with things
like http, ftp, mailto, file, and other commonly encountered strings known
to identify retrieval protocols in URLs is 'wrong', whatever RFC2396 may
claim.
It certainly complicates matters, however.
Simon St.Laurent
XML Elements of Style / XML: A Primer, 2nd Ed.
http://www.simonstl.com - XML essays and books
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