On 4/22/11 4:58 PM, Martin Hepp wrote:
On the more theoretical side, I do not thing that English identifiers are necessarily a barrier to global adoption. HTML is based in English identifiers, most XML schemas are based on English identifiers, the HTTP protocol uses English tokens, etc.;-)
Yes, but in the HTML context, the user isn't really thinking in terms of Object ID and Object Representation Address dichotomy. They just have a Link acting as a Pointer :-)
Trouble with Linked Data is that its Distributed Data Objects 3.0, so conceptually, de-reference (*) and address-of (&) operators knowledge and history matters. The whole 303 imbroglio completely masked out this important innovation that showcases the ingenuity of URIs.
Sometimes, trying to dumb down the message for an audience just adds more inertia to concept comprehension and exploitation. Ignorance != Bliss, over the long haul :-)
The conundrum I see is this: Identifiers are supposed to be opaque and unique. When it comes to Address (Pointer) function variants such URLs, that's another matter, hackable URLs are immensely valuable. Trouble is this though, Linked Data is (mechanically) about indirection (aka. de-reference operator) but this indirection creates an problematic fusion: Name Reference (HTTP URI based Name of a Thing) and Name of Data Access Address (HTTP URI based Name of an Data Access Address aka URL) . Solving this problem is achievable via the Web Linking pattern using URL templates and .well-known/host-meta. Trouble is, folks are already implementing other patterns that don't really unveil the critical dichotomy I mentioned earlier.
As I said, it is a conundrum, so we have to watch and see how this all shakes out. Thus, in your case GR instances will grow (outside of what folks like us do with Linked Data transformation middleware) as desired (by Web developers) or hit an incomprehension laden point of inertia, only time will tell.
-- Regards, Kingsley Idehen President& CEO OpenLink Software Web: http://www.openlinksw.com Weblog: http://www.openlinksw.com/blog/~kidehen Twitter/Identi.ca: kidehen
