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diff --git a/.html/cool-urls-can-change.html b/.html/cool-urls-can-change.html deleted file mode 100644 index f61f8e4..0000000 --- a/.html/cool-urls-can-change.html +++ /dev/null @@ -1,142 +0,0 @@ -<!DOCTYPE html> -<html> -<head> - <title> - The Codex » - Cool URLs Do Change (Sometimes) - </title> - - <link - rel='stylesheet' - type='text/css' - href='http://fonts.googleapis.com/css?family=Buenard:400,700&subset=latin,latin-ext'> - <link - rel="stylesheet" - type="text/css" - href="media/css/reset.css"> - <link - rel="stylesheet" - type="text/css" - href="media/css/grimoire.css"> -</head> -<body> - -<div id="shell"> - - <ol id="breadcrumbs"> - - <li class="crumb-0 not-last"> - - <a href="./">index</a> - - </li> - - <li class="crumb-1 last"> - - cool-urls-can-change - - </li> - - </ol> - - - - <div id="article"> - <h1 id="cool-urls-do-change-sometimes">Cool URLs Do Change (Sometimes)</h1> -<p>Required reading: <a href="http://www.w3.org/Provider/Style/URI.html">Cool URLs don't -change</a>.</p> -<p>When I wrote <a href="http://codex.grimoire.ca/2008/09/24/nobody-cares-about-your-build/">Nobody Cares About Your -Build</a>, I -set up a dedicated publishing platform - Wordpress, as it happens - to host -it, and as part of that process I put some real thought into the choice of -“permalink” schemes to use. I opted to use a “dated” scheme, baking the -publication date of each article into its name - into its URL - for all -eternity. I'm a big believer in the idea that a URL should be a long-term name -for the appropriate bit of data or content, and every part of a dated scheme -“made sense” at the time.</p> -<p>This turned out to be a mistake.</p> -<p>The web is not, much, like print media. Something published may be amended; -you don't even have to publish errata or a correction, since you can correct -the original mistake “seamlessly.” This has its good and its -<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memory_hole">bad</a> parts, but with judicious use -and <a href="https://github.com/ojacobson/grimoiredotca">a public history</a>, amendment -is more of a win than a loss. However, this plays havoc with the idea of a -“publication” date, even for data that takes the form of an article: is the -publication date the date it was first made public, the date of its most -recent edit, or some other date?</p> -<p>Because the name - the URL - of an article was set when I first published it, -the date in the name had to be its initial publication date. <em>This has -actually stopped me from making useful amendments to old articles</em> because the -effort of writing a full, free-standing followup article is more than I'm -willing to commit to. Had I left the date out of the URLs, I'd feel more free -to judiciously amend articles in place and include, in the content, a short -amendment summary.</p> -<p>The W3C's informal suggestions on the subject state that “After the creation -date, putting any information in the name is asking for trouble one way or -another.” I'm starting to believe that this doesn't go far enough: <em>every</em> -part of a URL must have some semantic justification for being there, dates -included:</p> -<ol> -<li> -<p><em>Each part must be meaningful</em>. While - <code>http://example.com/WW91IGp1c3QgbG9zdCB0aGUgZ2FtZQ==</code> is fairly easy to - render stable, the meaningless blob renders the name immemorable.</p> -</li> -<li> -<p><em>Each part must be stable</em>. This is where I screwed up worst: I did not - anticipate that the “date” of an article could be a fluid thing. It's - tempting to privilege the first date, and it's not an unreasonable - solution, but it didn't fit how I wanted to address the contents of - articles.</p> -</li> -</ol> -<p>Running a web server gives you one namespace to play with. Use it wisely.</p> -<h2 id="ok-but-ive-already-got-these-urls">Ok, But I've Already Got These URLs</h2> -<p>Thankfully, there's a way out - for <em>some</em> URLs. URLs inherently name -resources <em>accessed using some protocol</em>, and some protocols provide support -for resources that are, themselves, references to other URLs. HTTP is a good -example, providing a fairly rich set of responses that all, fundamentally, -tell a client to check a second URL for the content relevent to a given URL. -In protocols like this, you can easily replace the content of a URL with a -reference to its new, “better” URL rather than abandoning it entirely.</p> -<p>Names can evolve organically as the humans that issue them grow a better -understanding of the problem, and don't always have to be locked in stone from -the moment they're first used.</p> - </div> - - - -<div id="comments"> -<div id="disqus_thread"></div> -<script type="text/javascript"> - /* * * CONFIGURATION VARIABLES: EDIT BEFORE PASTING INTO YOUR WEBPAGE * * */ - var disqus_shortname = 'grimoire'; // required: replace example with your forum shortname - - /* * * DON'T EDIT BELOW THIS LINE * * */ - (function() { - var dsq = document.createElement('script'); dsq.type = 'text/javascript'; dsq.async = true; - dsq.src = 'http://' + disqus_shortname + '.disqus.com/embed.js'; - (document.getElementsByTagName('head')[0] || document.getElementsByTagName('body')[0]).appendChild(dsq); - })(); -</script> -<noscript>Please enable JavaScript to view the <a href="http://disqus.com/?ref_noscript">comments powered by Disqus.</a></noscript> -<a href="http://disqus.com" class="dsq-brlink">comments powered by <span class="logo-disqus">Disqus</span></a> -</div> - - - - <div id="footer"> - <p> - - The Codex — - - Powered by <a href="http://markdoc.org/">Markdoc</a>. - -<a href="https://bitbucket.org/ojacobson/grimoire.ca/src/master/wiki/cool-urls-can-change.md">See this page on Bitbucket</a> (<a href="https://bitbucket.org/ojacobson/grimoire.ca/history-node/master/wiki/cool-urls-can-change.md">history</a>). - - </p> - </div> - -</div> -</body> -</html>
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