[uf-discuss] URIs vs URLs (reference)

[Dr. Ernie Prabhakar]

Hi Ian,

On Oct 25, 2005, at 12:21 PM, Ian Hickson wrote:
> On Tue, 25 Oct 2005, David Janes -- BlogMatrix wrote:
>>> In W3C terminology, the term "URL" is officially obsolete.
>>
>> Do you have a reference for that. I've been using URI preferentially
>> since "I thought I heard that somewhere" but it'd be nice to sort  
>> that
>> out.
>
> First hit for "uri url" on Google is:
>
>    http://www.w3.org/Addressing/
>
> ...which is a list of links. The first link on that page containing  
> both
> the term URI and the term URL is:
>
>    http://www.w3.org/TR/uri-clarification/
>
> ...which is what I was referring to.

Hmm, I read that as agreeing with my understanding, which matches the  
"contemporary" view:

> Further according to the contemporary view, the term "URL" does not  
> refer to a formal partition of URI space; rather, URL is a useful  
> but informal concept: a URL is a type of URI that identifies a  
> resource via a representation of its primary access mechanism
>
> The W3C and IETF should jointly develop and endorse a model for  
> URIs, URLs and URNs consistent with the '"Contemporary View"

Thus, my earlier statement -- I prefer URL over (non-URL) URIs -- is  
at least meaningful, whether or not it is a good idea. :-)

-- Ernie P.