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Title: Why make namespaces so complicated? It
does do some things.
1. A public ID is recognized as Just A Name.
2. A public ID has a means to be resolved that is
indirect and extensible.
3. A public ID is clearly an identifier for an owner,
class
description, version number, and language.
4. A public ID may use a registry process. For
those
who like that sort of thing, it is possible. It
does
enable those who choose to cooperate a
means.
5. As a level of indirection, it is no worse than
URI to
RDDL. RDDL isn't a standard and
isn't
even widely deployed. Domain control
is
fine and you have that. Others might consider
it
worthwhile to control a namespace without
reference to the Internet, DNS, or other systemic
resources. They may wish to clearly and functionally
state
that the owner of the namespace is Owner,
that
the Class is Class, that the Version is Version,
that
the Language is Language, and so on. That
is a
bit more flexible than the Domain name, actually
for
most of the reasons you point out. It is precisely
because companies go out of business or change
organizations that some prefer public identifiers for
published resources. It is less corrosive.
It is
an alternative being explored to avoid reinvention.
That
alone may be worth some time invested. One
should
look at the other options.
If one insists that a namespace label is only a label
and
want to avoid the wink-wink nudge-nudge that
has
been the way of the Namespace Rec since
it was
published, an alternative is to use the
form
of that which is clearly Just A Name, and
the
standard from OASIS that provides a means
to
resolve that to a location should one so choose.
All
things on the Internet Are Not The Web. All
things
in XML are Not On the Internet.
len
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