For the 5/18 draft
>The namespace name, to serve its intended purpose, should have the
>characteristics of uniqueness and persistence. It is not a goal that
>it be directly usable for retrieval of a schema (if any exists).
This sounds like I can use a PURL (see http://www.purl.org for details) as a
URI in a namespace declaration. They are unique and persistent, assuming the
OCLC doesn't disappear any time soon. They are retrievable, though with a
hitch - the OCLC sends a redirect to the 'actual' location to which the PURL
refers. That location may change, though the PURL doesn't. (The same holds
true for domain names, but the mechanisms are more commonly understood and
implemented at a lower level.)
Does the "it is not a goal" language mean that I can use a PURL, or should I
stay away from doing so because some applications may be unable to handle an
attempted resolution of (and redirection from) that URL? Applications don't
appear to be prohibited from such retrieval; it's just not a goal that they do
retrieve.
Several others on the list have commented about possible useful things to put
at the end of a namespace URI, so I'm a little concerned.
Simon St.Laurent
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