On 6/11/13 5:15 PM, Luca Matteis wrote:
Why are we worried about all of this? "Linked Data" is clearly defined by the four principles of Tim-Berners Lee [1]. RDF is in there. So in order to be Linked Data it has to use RDF.

If you don't want to use RDF, then you're not doing Linked Data. You're just doing something else and you're free to call it whatever you want.

1. http://www.w3.org/DesignIssues/LinkedData.html

Really? You are referring to a revision of the original meme [1]. And when you digest that meme, please don't come back inferring that TimBL must have been thinking about RDF when he produced outlined the four points in his original GOLDEN meme.

Look, Data is one thing. Linking is another.

Data is how we express observation.

You express observation via entity relationships. You have a subject which characteristics discernible to its observer.

Sets of relationships produce Relations (what the predicate/attribute in an RDF or EAV model triple denotes i.e., the thing that has domain and range, the thing that facilitates relationships between two things, the thing that plays the same role as verb in natural language).

A basic statement (which represents a relationship) of observation is a Datum. Each part of the statement (subject, predicate, object) is denoted using an identifier.

Identifiers can take the form or literals or references. If you opt for literals then your Data (datum collection) is localized to the system that understands how to process those literal identifiers. If you opt for a Reference, you introduce the possibility of powerful name->locator (address) indirection which is still subject to system interpretation (e.g., your host OS or an ORDBMS system). If you use HTTP URIs then you have name->locator (address) indirection interpretable at Web-scale. Basically, you have web-like (or webby) structured data.

So far what do we have?

We simply have web-like structured data representation where the components of each Datum are denoted using HTTP URIs. Does that make the data meaningful? For instance, could a data consumer injest this structured data and perform any kind of reasoning, without human intervention or a reference to human-readable document? Could a program apply owl:sameAs or owl:InverseFunctional semantics en route to drawing inferences from this data?

Now, add RDF to the mix, and all of a sudden you not only have web-like structured data, you also have explicit semantics (for the relations) baked into the structured data representation.

RDF is about bringing logic to the Web. Basically, Pat Hayes referred to this as Blogic [2] in a seminal talk circa., 2009.

Linked Data is fundamentally about making structured data representation web-like. RDF is about bringing Logic to web-like structured data. RDF and Linked Data are not the same thing, but they work wonderfully together.


Links:

1. http://web.archive.org/web/20061121032424/http://www.w3.org/DesignIssues/LinkedData.html -- original version of TimBL's Linked Data meme (source of inspiration for many early adopters that contributed to the DBpedia and Linked Open Data Cloud)

2. http://www.slideshare.net/PatHayes/blogic-iswc-2009-invited-talk -- Blogic

2. http://bit.ly/bmdv5N -- Data 3.0 manifesto (I wrote this post in response to the retrospective insertion of RDF & SPARQL into TimBL's original meme).



Kingsley


On Tue, Jun 11, 2013 at 11:04 PM, Kingsley Idehen <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote:

    On 6/11/13 4:51 PM, David Booth wrote:

        On 06/11/2013 04:20 PM, Kingsley Idehen wrote:

            On 6/11/13 4:12 PM, Melvin Carvalho wrote:



                    This is the goal of the Semantic Web: to enable
                machines to
                    usefully and (semi-)automatically, find, share,
                combine and
                    process web data. Because Linked Data is RDF,
                Linked Data supports
                    that goal in a very important way that Linked
                Stuff does not.


                We already have the 5 stars of linked data.  If you
                use RDF you're
                probably 5 star.  If you dont you're probably 4 star
                or lower.  That
                said, there may be some other linked data system one
                day become a 5
                star standard.


        The stars are to encourage people *toward* Linked Open Data --
        both Linked Data and fully Open Data.  The stars do *not*
        indicate that there is such a thing as "one-star Linked Data"
        or "four-star Linked Data".


    That isn't my point.

    My point is that the document provides a nice guideline for moving
    folks towards Linked Data. It does so without putting RDF at the
    front-door.

    Again, I am not debating the virtues of RDF. My profound
    difference with you simply boils down to not seeing the need to
    inextricably link RDF and Linked Data, at every turn. I have no
    interest in adding inertia to engagement endeavors when the target
    audience has no interest in the letters R-D-F. I care much more
    about the underlying concepts and their utility than I do  labels.

    I am not interested in proving any point or winning any wars
    around the letters R-D-F. I encourage you to consider doing the
    same thing. The world fully exploiting the power of the Web is an
    endeavor achievable without RDF at the front-door.

    Note: not having RDF at the front-door in now way renders it
    useless or irrelevant.

        Think about it.


    I have, for many many years, which is why I am still investing so
    much time on this subject matter.


        Would it make any sense to call a PDF document "Linked Data"
        just because it is on the web with an open license?


    No comment.

        Of course not.


    Thank you.


        But it would qualify for one star on the path *toward* Linked
        Open Data.


    A Paper Description Format (what PDF is to me) has nothing to do
    with any kind of openly accessible data, modulo the increasing
    existence of extractor and conversion tools.


    Kingsley



            Great point!

            The 5-Star Open Data system [1] is a nice approach to
            framing this most
            challenging of narratives. It's greatest virtue is not
            putting RDF at
            the front-door :-)


            Links:

            1. http://5stardata.info/ -- 5-Start Open Data


        That is *Open* Data -- not *Linked* Data.  When you reach all
        five stars it becomes both: Linked Open Data.

        David




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    OpenLink Software
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Regards,

Kingsley Idehen 
Founder & CEO
OpenLink Software
Company Web: http://www.openlinksw.com
Personal Weblog: http://www.openlinksw.com/blog/~kidehen
Twitter/Identi.ca handle: @kidehen
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