Walter Underwood wrote:
> All the arguments for are based on structural similarity. That is
> enough to suggest that they are related, but not enough to prove
> it. A shopping cart and a baby stroller are structurally similar,
> but that doesn't automatically make them related.
Darn. Walter beat me to it... Yes, the key is that Roundy's
arguments address only the form of the two elements, not their substance or
function. This is like saying that monkeys and men are the same because they
both have two arms, two legs, etc. -- they even share common ancestry.
Admittedly, in some contexts, it is useful to see both as "primates,"
however, in most other contexts, it is best to treat them as dissimilar.
The mere fact that we've chosen to provide a "title" in both head
and entry does not mean they are the same nor does it mean that "title"
means the same in both contexts. In fact, it does not. The "title" of a head
is not the head's title. Rather, it is the title of the feed that contains
the head. The title of an entry, on the other hand, is that of the entry
itself. One element contains data that describes itself -- the other
contains data that describes its parent and the parent of the entries in the
same feed. These differences are significant.
I think one could argue that many of these apparent similarities are
mere artifacts of the forms we've chosen. For instance, while I think it is
natural to think of the "title" of an entry, I would not have been surprised
if the supposedly similar element in head had been called "name." It seems
odd to me to speak of the "title" for a feed. While I won't write a Pace to
propose this, I would more comfortable speaking of the "name" of a feed and
the "title" of an entry. (It's just a personal aesthetic thing...)
Other differences are very clear to me -- even though element names
are similar. For instance, I see a great difference (under US law) between
the "copyright" of the collection which is held in head and the copyright
for a distinct entry. These two similarly named elements are just as
different from each other as they are similar.
Just because head and entry share a large number of similarly named
elements does not mean they are the same. Similarity of form does not imply
similarity of substance.
bob wyman
