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<font size=3>For a while here I thought i understood what the topic of
discussion was. Now i feel i may be missing the point
entirely.<br><br>
I thought we were trying to decide whether we should adopt the convention
that pairs of URLs like the following two URLs, when used as identity
URLs, are equivalent: identify the same persona.<br><br>
<a href="http://joaquin.net/" eudora="autourl">http://joaquin.net<br>
</a>
<a href="https://joaquin.net/" eudora="autourl">https://joaquin.net<br>
<br>
</a>But much of the discussion seems to be about identifying a Yadis
document or a web page. About whether we can suppose that the URLs
will return the same document to a GET. Or about whether they
s h o u l d return the same document. Or about what to make
of it if they happen to return different documents. Or how best to
tell if the documents returned are equivalent.<br><br>
Now, i suppose those discussions would be relevant if we were trying to
meet the reasonable expectations of programmers and architects.
<br><br>
But i thought our audience was <br>
the people who <br>
we would like to see <br>
use URLs to identify
their personas.<br><br>
In that case, most of the discussion does not feel to me like it is on
target.<br><br>
<br><br>
How about let's stick for a day or so to the question: How will our
audience best be served: by the two URLs being equivalent, or by their
not being equivalent? <br><br>
How will our audience best be served?<br>
The people who we would like to see use URLs to identify their
personas.<br><br>
Cordially, Joaquin<br><br>
================ there should be no need to read on.
======================<br><br>
Here is what I thought was being discussed (spelled out in excess detail,
just be be perfectly clear).<br><br>
We use URLs as personal identifiers.<br>
</font><font size=3 color="#808080">(They don't identify a person,
exactly, but instead identify a persona being used by a person (or
persons).)<br>
</font><font size=3>
</font><font size=3 color="#C0C0C0">((Such URLs might also identify some
entity that is not a person, but that does not matter for us in this
discussion.))<br>
</font><font size=3>
</font><font size=3 color="#C0C0C0">((We don't limit ourselves to URLs;
certainly an XRI; perhaps any URI; or IRI. That does not matter for us in
this discussion.))<br><br>
</font><font size=3>An identifier is an unambiguous name, in a given
naming context. [X.902 12.2]<br><br>
In our case, the naming context is established, in part, by the internet
standards, practices, and installed infrastructure. <br>
One part of this infrastructure is the maintenance of the domain
namespace by the installed DNS infrastructure. <br>
> I'll call this context 'the DNS URL context', 'the usual URL
context' or just 'the URL context'.<br><br>
URLs are resource locators. Every URL locates a resource.
<br>
</font><font size=3 color="#C0C0C0"> ((Or is
broken. We could have a lot of fun arguing about the concept,
broken identifier, but that will not be useful for us in this
discussion.))<br><br>
</font><font size=3>Further, URLs are a kind of URI. URIs are
identifiers. [RFC 3986] Every URL identifies a resource.<br>
</font><font size=3 color="#C0C0C0">((Or is
broken.))<br><br>
</font><font size=3>In the URL context, a URL identifies a
resource.<br><br>
Arguably, in the URL context these two URLs necessarily identify
different resources:<br>
<a href="http://joaquin.net/" eudora="autourl">http://joaquin.net<br>
</a>
<a href="https://joaquin.net/" eudora="autourl">https://joaquin.net<br>
</a> </font><font size=3 color="#C0C0C0">((For us, in
this discussion, that does not matter at all, one way or the
other.))<br><br>
</font><font size=3>But we also have another context, more
interesting. The context provided by Yadis and by the various
internet identity services, such as OpenID, LID public key based identity
services, MyID, Sxip, and so on. <br>
>> I'll call this context 'the Identity URL context'.<br><br>
I maintain a spiffy little web page located by the URL
'<a href="http://joaquin.net/" eudora="autourl">http://joaquin.net</a>
'.<br>
I maintain a spiffy little resource identified, in the URL context, by
the URL
'<a href="http://joaquin.net/" eudora="autourl">http://joaquin.net</a>
'.<br><br>
At the very same time, I use that very same URL,
'<a href="http://joaquin.net/" eudora="autourl">http://joaquin.net</a>',
as an identity URL: an identifier of the persona i present at that web
site.<br><br>
In the URL context the URL
'<a href="http://joaquin.net/" eudora="autourl">http://joaquin.net</a>'
identifies my spiffy little resource.<br>
In the Identity URL context the URL
'<a href="http://joaquin.net/" eudora="autourl">http://joaquin.net</a>'
identifies my little persona.<br><br>
This amazing feat is possible because, in the Identity URL context, URLs
identify personas.<br>
Not resources.<br><br>
I am free to use a different identifier,
'<a href="https://joaquin.net/" eudora="autourl">https://joaquin.net</a>
', to identify that same little persona.<br><br>
Whether, in the URL context,
'<a href="https://joaquin.net/" eudora="autourl">https://joaquin.net</a>'
and
'<a href="http://joaquin.net/" eudora="autourl">http://joaquin.net</a>'
do or don't identify the same resource does not matter one whit, if i
happen to choose to use them to identify, in the Identity URL context,
the same persona.<br><br>
And, since we are inventing this space out of whole cloth, we are
perfectly free to require that they identify the same persona. It
is simply a matter of our specifying a rule of the naming
context.<br><br>
Whether, in the URL context,
'<a href="https://joaquin.net/" eudora="autourl">https://joaquin.net</a>'
and
'<a href="http://joaquin.net/" eudora="autourl">http://joaquin.net</a>'
do or don't identify the same resource does not matter one whit, if we to
choose to specify that they identify the same persona.<br><br>
Which way we decide might make architects and programmers a little
unhappier or more pleased, might make a little more or less work for us,
might lead to more or fewer design and implementation errors, might
require more or less time, money, or thought.<br><br>
But none of that matters.<br><br>
What matters o n l y is what will
work best for the average woman in the street or at the terminal.
Or man. Or other persona.<br><br>
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