At 5:11 PM +0000 1/30/05, Graham wrote:
3.5.1 Dereferencing Identity Constructs
The content of an Identity construct MAY be dereferencable (e.g. an HTTP URI). However, processors MUST NOT assume it to be dereferencable.
The first sentence doesn't say anything. The second is good but doesn't go far enough.
The content of an Identity construct SHOULD NOT be dereferenced, even when it comes from a
normally dereferencable scheme. There is no requirement for the content to represent a URI
where a version of the feed or entry may be found.
I'm +1 on this, but would be fine if the WG doesn't want to change. Graham's wording is more useful to an implementer who wasn't on the mailing list last year (or was on and skipped over the permathreads).
(Actually I think even having a section with this name is asking for trouble.
We could change it to "Not Dereferencing Identity Constructs"...
--Paul Hoffman, Director --Internet Mail Consortium
