[sc34wg3] a new name for the Reference Model

[Steven R. Newcomb]

Steve P. asks whether we're getting closer.  

    I think it's obvious that we are all working hard
    to close ranks.

    I sense that we're transforming the tension between
    our agendas into a source of immense strength and
    durability for Topic Maps.  I have a picture in my
    mind that Topic Maps is becoming like a girder made
    of pre-stressed concrete: a combination of concrete
    and steel that is far more useful than either the
    concrete or the steel alone would be.  Concrete by
    itself is vulnerable to any forces that aren't
    compression forces (such as tension or shear
    forces).  The steel that's used in pre-stressed
    concrete isn't rigid.  All the rigidity comes from
    the concrete.  To make something really durable,
    both steel and concrete are needed, and the steel
    must be stretched very tight, compressing the
    concrete so hard that the combination is not only
    rigid, but it is also extremely resistant to
    pressure from any direction.

    I think this naming-the-baby exercise is helping us
    to appreciate the respectability of all our
    agendas.  I have hope that the naming solution,
    when we find it, will turn out to have been
    forehead-slappingly obvious.  (Maybe this "obvious"
    solution is already on the table, and the
    obviousness of it just hasn't struck all of us yet.
    Or, maybe not.)

    Returning to my pre-stressed concrete metaphor (I
    really like this metaphor), let me extend it
    further.

    The SAM is like concrete.  We need its rigidity,
    its low cost, its convenience, and its
    just-mix-it-and-pour-it simplicity.  But by itself
    it may crack under the stresses that will come from
    directions other than the direction of compression
    -- the direction in which it's inherently strong.

    The RM is like the steel cables used in
    pre-stressed concrete.  We can't build highways,
    bridges, or buildings using only those cables,
    because they wiggle around too much, and they're
    too narrow to walk on, much less to drive a bus on
    them.  We need to embed the cables in the concrete,
    and, after the concrete has hardened, we need to
    use their tension-strength to compress the
    concrete.

    The dependency of the SAM on the RM is like the
    tension we place on the cables, after the concrete
    has hardened with the cables inside it.  We screw
    those cables down hard against the steel endplates
    on the concrete girder, putting the concrete girder
    under many, many tons of pressure, end-to-end.
    Once we've done that, we've made a pre-stressed
    concrete girder that's incredibly strong, on which
    we can safely drive buses for millenia.

    Regardless of the design of the SAM, and regardless
    of whether I personally agree with the design of
    the SAM, I hope we will screw those cables down
    tightly, because that compressive force will make
    the SAM capable of withstanding all kinds of
    stress.  Without that compressive force, the SAM --
    and the buses that drive on it -- will be
    vulnerable to shearing and tension forces -- forces
    that aren't compression forces.  I want us to put
    *TONS AND TONS* of pressure on the SAM,
    permanently, so it will remain in one piece, come
    what may.

    When I say "put tons of pressure on the SAM,
    permanently", I mean "express the SAM in RM terms."
    This is pretty consistent with what the current
    draft of the SAM already does.  A few more kinds of
    things need to be said, though -- a few more turns
    of the screws, a few more tons of pressure, so as
    to maximize the strength of the SAM.  I think the
    concrete has already hardened, at least in the
    minds of the people who have brought Topic Maps to
    the marketplace.  I do not propose to change the
    concrete, or to pour new concrete; we're past that
    stage now.  All I want to do is to make the
    concrete we have as durable as possible.

-- Steve

Steven R. Newcomb, Consultant
srn@coolheads.com

Coolheads Consulting
http://www.coolheads.com

voice: +1 972 359 8160
fax:   +1 972 359 0270

1527 Northaven Drive
Allen, Texas 75002-1648 USA