On 10/26/10 12:38 PM, John F.
Sowa wrote:
> There's an interesting new language and system
designed for secure,
> distributed computing. The language, called Jif
(Java + Information
> Flow), extends Java with "policies", and the
system is called Fabric
> because "Fabric is more useful and more tightly
connected than webs."
>
> See below for references to Fabric, Jif, and
related articles.
> But the main point I want to make in this note is
the contrast
> between the methods for developing Fabric and the
Semantic Web:
>
> 1. The SemWeb began with an inspiring, but
rather vague speech
> by Tim B-L about adding semantics to the
URIs of the WWW.
> At that level of detail, nobody could
object.
>
> 2. The W3C, which met for the first time at
the 1994 conference
> where Tim gave that speech, took charge of
the design and
> development of the SemWeb.
>
> 3. Like any design by committee (cf. Fred
Brooks' book), the
> SemWeb was pulled in different directions
by experts with
> competing visions of the goals, technology,
and methodology.
>
> 4. As a result, the only consensus on
architectural document was
> the familiar layer cake, which emphasized
syntax over semantics.
>
> 5. The most widely used technology that came
out of the SemWeb
> was the lowest common denominator with the
barest minimum of
> semantics: RDF.
>
> 6. The components above the RDF level have not
been integrated
> with each other or with the mainstream of
IT software, and
> very few IT developers have found any
reason to use them.
>
> I don't know whether Jif and Fabric are going to
be more successful,
> but their approach is the best way to develop a
major new design:
> a small group doing focused research with
prototype implementations
> to check how and whether the ideas work in
practice.
>
> Doing advanced R& D in a small group (or
"skunk works") has always
> been far more successful than design by
committee. As a classic
> example that succeeded beyond the designers'
wildest dreams, see
> the Oak project at Sun, which became Java:
>
>
https://duke.dev.java.net/green/
>
> As Yogi B. said, "Prediction is very hard,
especially about the future."
> But I don't believe that any of the current
components of the SemWeb
> are going to survive without a total overhaul or
complete replacement.
> Instead, we can expect some small group working
in skunk-works mode
> to produce a truly Semantic Fabric.
John,
I agree with the general "skunk works" theme 100%, but
Java isn't a
great example today IMHO. Lots of bloat in Java land
(codebase and
community process).
Linked Data (hypermedia based structured data) and the
Linked Open Data
community are "skunk works" examples that emerged from
the larger and
somewhat maligned Semantic Web project :-)
Kingsley
> John Sowa
>
_____________________________________________________________________
>
> Following is a brief article about Fabric from
Dr. Dobb's Journal:
>
>
http://www.drdobbs.com/article/printableArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=0SGXWQQMVBVOTQE1GHPSKHWATMY32JVN?articleId=227900404&dept_url=/java/
>
> Following is a 16-page paper:
>
>
http://www.cs.cornell.edu/andru/papers/fabric-sosp09.pdf
>
> And following is the web page for Jif, which also
contains URLs
> for 40 related publications:
>
>
http://www.cs.cornell.edu/jif/
>
>
>
_________________________________________________________________
> Message Archives:
http://ontolog.cim3.net/forum/ontolog-forum/
> Config Subscr:
http://ontolog.cim3.net/mailman/listinfo/ontolog-forum/
> Unsubscribe: mailto:
ontolog-forum-leave@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Shared Files:
http://ontolog.cim3.net/file/
> Community Wiki:
http://ontolog.cim3.net/wiki/
> To join:
http://ontolog.cim3.net/cgi-bin/wiki.pl?WikiHomePage#nid1J
> To Post: mailto:
ontolog-forum@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>
>
--
Regards,
Kingsley Idehen
President& CEO
OpenLink Software
Web:
http://www.openlinksw.com
Weblog:
http://www.openlinksw.com/blog/~kidehen
Twitter/Identi.ca: kidehen
_________________________________________________________________
Message Archives:
http://ontolog.cim3.net/forum/ontolog-forum/
Config Subscr:
http://ontolog.cim3.net/mailman/listinfo/ontolog-forum/
Unsubscribe: mailto:
ontolog-forum-leave@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Shared Files:
http://ontolog.cim3.net/file/
Community Wiki:
http://ontolog.cim3.net/wiki/
To join:
http://ontolog.cim3.net/cgi-bin/wiki.pl?WikiHomePage#nid1J
To Post: mailto:
ontolog-forum@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx