[sc34wg3] RM4TM SLUO : Objective or Requirement?

[Sam Hunting]

> | OTOH if SLUO is only an Objective, it should be expressed by:
> |
> | Recommendation:
> | "In a topic map graph, every subject *should be* (as far as possible)
> represented by a
> | single node" [3]
> 
> I completely agree. SLUO can never be more than a (very important) design
> guideline. One can never be sure subjects are actually represented by only one
> node (topic) since human knowledge is only partial...

I you were Plato and I was Aristotle, I would agree with you -- indeed,
subjects (The Subject) is ineffable, etc. 

But the point of the RM is to give an operational definition of what "as
far as possible" means -- that's the purpose of Clause 5.

If that's broken, fine, let's fix it, but I'd rather talk about that than
partial knowledge.

(I think, BTW, that "objective" and "design guideline" are close, but not
identical. The objective is the end; design guidelines are there to help
us choose the means to achieve the end.)

Objective: "Write a standard that humans can read." Design Guideline (or
principle): "Avoid convoluted prose." Means to achieve objective: "Omit
needless words","Make sure every paragraph begins with a topic sentence,"
"See if removing all adverbs from a sentence is a loss-less
transformation", etc.)


Sam Hunting
eTopicality, Inc.

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