AwwswJarNotes20080630

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Scope.

• Tim: What triples should tabulator assert?
• JAR: When is an HTTP interaction inconsistent with some assertions? (e.g. 200)
• Alan: IRI canonicalization / comparison? (POWDER)
• Alan: Nuanced distinctions for things on the web. Form vs. blog vs. survey vs. etc.

Method.

• Requirements gathering
  • IRs do not have physical properties such as mass.
  • Numbers and representations are not IRs.
  • Web pages, generally speaking, are IRs.
  • Every HREF link to a web page should be upgradeable to a triple.
• Ground in RDF and OWL semantics
• Ontology development
  • Relate to other ontologies
    • FRBR
    • OBO Information Artifact Ontology

David: "IR discussions have been unproductive. Talking about identity is the way to make progress."

Decisions:

• IRs do not have physical properties such as mass.
• Avoid using "resource". Say "thing" or "information resource".
• Avoid the word "endpoint".

IR concepts:

• Abstract document (generic or fixed)
• Variable document
• Function from (request, time) to response
• Sequence of bits, with mime type

Puzzles:

• Why do we care about IR vs. non-IR, anyhow?
• Are all IRs abstract documents?
• Are PDF documents IRs? (Tim: yes, "fixed resource")
• Can an abstract document contain a misspelling?
• How might an IR, as independently specified by some RDF, relate to what a web apparatus does?
• If server behavior at two URIs is identical, and includes 200s, do the URIs name the same IR? (Tim 4/15: not necessarily)
• If server behavior for two URIs is different, but both include 200s, can they possibly name the same IR? (Tim 4/15: yes)
• Is the AWWW IR definition salvageable? (DBooth, JAR: no.)
• Is the information named, or is something related to it?

Edge cases:

• What about badly behaved 200-responders - are they IRs or server errors?
  • "Badly behaved" meand they don't give the appearance of being "abstract documents".
    • Example: random responders.
    • Example: language or format variants say inconsistent things.
• (What would it mean should one link to one of these?)
• When does a URI come to denote a different IR (e.g. parked domains / change of ownership)?