[gcs-pcs-list] big day in #code4lib

[Mike Rylander]

On 3/6/06, Daniel Chudnov <daniel.chudnov at yale.edu> wrote:
> On Mar 6, 2006, at 2:06 PM, Mike Rylander wrote:
>
> > A 4+ hour conversation started today around the real differences
> > between OpenURL and unAPI.  Excepting some initial ... um ...
> > emotional/evangelical responses from several interested parties (me
> > included), it was all very civil, and we managed to come to a truce,
> > if not an agreement, on some things.  What follows is my
> > interpretation of the discussion, distilled, for your viewing
> > pleasure, from about 400K of scrollback buffer.
>
> Oh dear.
>
>
> > 5) the use of URI for resource identifiers is confusing, with regard
> > to identifier opacity/transparency
>
> For those of us who missed it, please define "opaque" and
> "transparent" w/r/to identifiers, in this context.  I think I know
> what you mean, but I'm not certain.

opaque == "as far as you, the user, knows, this identifier only means
something to the <LINK> in the header of this page, and you don't know
how to build one, so don't try" ;)

transparent == "server says: I understand, among other things,
urn:isbn:xxx URIs, so go ahead and gimme one you found on some random
web site"

>
> There are a lot of different issues mixed together in your summary so
> your summary is a little too "opaque" for me to understand (i.e. I
> cannot see the light through it :).

The point of all of that, IMO, is that if we say "identifiers are
opaque handles that only the server at <LINK> understands", then we
sidestep all issues where interpreting identifiers causes confusion.

>
>    -Dan
>


--
Mike Rylander
mrylander at gmail.com
GPLS -- PINES Development
Database Developer
http://open-ils.org