[ I've cc:d [EMAIL PROTECTED] because I suspect there may be more diversity of input there, but have set replies to [EMAIL PROTECTED], as this is probably out of scope for discussion on the URI list. ]
I've been reading through most of the fun little brawl that happened on [EMAIL PROTECTED] in July when catching up on my mail (yes, I'm behind).
It seems to me that there are two possible views of the relationship between URIs and their associated resources;
* Many-to-One - that is, it's possible for many URIs to identify the same resource. In this view, it may be helpful to think of URIs as identifying *interfaces* to resources, rather than resources themselves; i.e., if one asserts that two URIs identify the same resource, it really is the same resource.
* One-to-One - that is, each URI identifies a separate resource, and one can only assert that the resources they identify are identical in every measurable way, but not the same resource.
Please note that I'm not saying that in either there's any defined way of looking at URIs and determining the relationships between the interfaces that they identify. One could, of course, come up with a format that allowed such relationships to be described and advertised by their authorities...
It's a fairly fine distinction, I know, but I'm not sure that it's universally agreed to. What do people think? I'm interested to see if there are substantial differences in the URI, REST, Web architecture and Semantic Web communities.
Cheers,
-- Mark Nottingham http://www.mnot.net/
