Re: ISSUE-81 (resource vs representation)

Ian Hickson wrote:
> On Sun, 27 Sep 2009, Julian Reschke wrote:
>> [...] there are parts of HTML5 which *do* use the traditional 
>> definition:
>>
>> "A URL is a string used to identify a resource." -- HTML5, Section 
>> 2.5.1, <http://dev.w3.org/html5/spec/Overview.html#terminology-0> (the 
>> fragid may be instable...)
> 
> This is actually intended to refer to "bag of bits". It identifies a bag 
> of bits in the same way that a telephone number identifies a person. Sure, 
> if you call a number at different times you might end up with different 
> people, but you're still using a phone number to identify a person, you 
> just don't know which one until you try to use the phone.

It appears that you're saying that the phone number does not really 
identify a person then.

So then, if a resource is a bag-of-bits, what do you call the thing you 
address with a POST request?

> It may be that you disagree with the meaning used for the word "identify" 
> here as well; it's being used in the sense of "give enough information to 
> obtain", not the sense "provide a name for" (the latter being the meaning 
> often used in Semantic Web circles for the word "identify").

I'll try to stay away from that discussion.

BR, Julian

Received on Sunday, 27 September 2009 11:04:29 UTC