[topicmapmail] PSIs - alternatives

[Alexander Johannesen]

On 6/20/06, Simon Grant <asimong at btinternet.com> wrote:
> There could be a impartial host for PSIs - maybe topicmaps.org? -
> respected by the entire community. That might work, if it were open
> for everyone to put them in freely or for a small fee.

I think this issue has been discussed ad nausseum, and I think the
general thinking is that it really is too hard for a central
repository to work; people throw in all sorts of stuff, nobody checks
if something similar is already in place, people don't bother
maintaining their PSI's (unless it brings cash for doing so), and it
will all end in tears. I also think the general thought is that if
some PSI's are truly valuable, they will organically be maintained in
the systems that use them, and by that use evolutionary principles
what stays and what goes. And since your PSI doesn't actually have to
point to anything that exsists, it doesn't matter that the PSI as a
URI works, and that means that people not only can but *will* break
them over time.

Some people take some ownership of certain PSI sets, and people reuse
them, or publish new ones, and systems tries to stay somewhat up to
date with it all. It comes down to persistant identifiers, not just in
the TM world, but with any information system. It's a hard nut to
crack, and people from all camps are trying to sort it out, not just
us TM'ers. Haven't seen any one system that does it right, though, and
the organic way most TM engines deals with it somewhat works, but this
would be a good time for people in the know to throw a bone to us wild
dogs.


Regards,

Alex
-- 
"Ultimately, all things are known because you want to believe you know."
                                                         - Frank Herbert
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