xml-dev - Re: URI concerns continue

[Michael Champion <Mike.Champion@softwareag-usa.com>]

----- Original Message -----
From: "Simon St.Laurent" <simonstl@simonstl.com>
To: "XML-Dev Mailing list" <xml-dev@lists.xml.org>
Sent: Tuesday, July 11, 2000 7:35 PM
Subject: RE: URI concerns continue



>
> The 'superstition' [that the prefix of a URI denotes a protocol]
> 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.

This point needs to be re-emphasized, especially to the folks who WROTE
these specs and know what they really say and really mean: you've created a
monster that has escaped from the lab :~)  Whatever the intent and wording
of the URI spec, people use URIs (well, URLs anyway) everyday and *think*
that they know exactly what they are.  For better or worse, many many web
developers are horribly confused by the notion of an HTTP URI that
identifies an abstract resource rather than a concrete piece of data.

This may be a "bad thing", I don't really know or care ... but the
superstitions probably count more than the reality, and you HAVE to take
them into consideration.  For example, if you were a builder, would you put
up a building at 1313 Main Street, with 13 floors, and have the grand
opening on Friday the 13th?  You might follow the building code to the
letter and not have a superstitious bone in your body ... but you probably
wouldn't have any tenants either!