xml-dev - Re: Web service and Semantic Web

[Uche Ogbuji <uche.ogbuji@fourthought.com>]

> Because this Semantic Web rests on a
> fundamental premise of building new assertions upon reference to
> previous ones,
> it relies not only upon the fixity of those assertions but also upon a
> mechanism
> which can be counted on to constrain any new expression to the scope, or
> more precisely the intersecting scope, of the underlying referenced
> assertions on
> which it is predicated. Autonomous nodes, implementing idiosyncratic
> methods, cannot be counted on to respect that limitation.

Hmm.  I hardly account myself a "semantic Web advocate" (at least not
yet), but I do think the above somewhat misstates the position.

As I see it, the SW is all about *not* requiring fixity.  I tend to see it
somewhat like the IP network: it can route around damage and adjust to
change.  As assumptions change, assertions can be added to the graph to
reflect this change.  Inferencing tools can help automate navigating
these changes.  Constraints are always presented in context, which can
itself be changed.  etc.

I'm not saying I know how to make this all happen.  As Dan says, "don't
hold your breath".  But this seems more in line with the goal I understand
than globally-fixed constraints.


-- 
Uche Ogbuji                               Principal Consultant
uche.ogbuji@fourthought.com               +1 303 583 9900 x 101
Fourthought, Inc.                         http://Fourthought.com
4735 East Walnut St, Ste. C, Boulder, CO 80301-2537, USA
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