On Mon, 2 Oct 1995 Jueneman(_at_)gte(_dot_)com wrote:
(I'd really prefer an X.500 solution, where instead of a URL there would be
a
distinguished name of the document. That way, when someone decides to take
down one file server and move all of the document somewhere else, users
wouldn't be left with a bunch of useless, dangling URLs. But I'm not
holding
my breath.)
I can't conceive of why you think that Distinguished Names would be more
stable than Domain Names, which I assume is what prompted the above.
I should have put my remarks in a double set of parentheses, to avoid jerking
everyone's chain. But just to rise to the bait, assuming that a document is
given a reasonable name, perhaps c=US, o=Certificates R Us,
cAPolicyUrl=http:// ... I see no reason for the document name, and hence the
DN, to ever have to change. The URL can then be changed as required to point
to the current location of the document. Am I missing something obvious?
BTW, I agree that with prudent planning, it should be possible to create a
Domain Name that is used to indicate the always stable name for a file server
that would contain such information. My experience is that people tend to load
up such servers with lots of different files, all under the common, stable
name, and then suddenly the files won't fit anymore and some people have to
change the name of the file server, leaving previously valid URLs invalid.
It's not that the problem can't be solved, e.g., with linked URLs. It's just
that most of the time it _isn't_ addressed until it is too late. Human nature,
I suppose.
Bob
Robert R. Jueneman
GTE Laboratories
1-617-466-2820 Office
1-508-264-0485 Telecommuting