The long awaited technical specs were published by XNSORG a couple of days ago. Looks like dry reading, but I'm really excited to see activity by XNS again. I think XNS has a lot going for it, and I especially like its mix of centralization vs. decentralization.
Perhaps a day not too long from now, and we will all be enjoying:
-a single online identity
-URNs
-data synchronization
Who knows what else!
Like the XML Schema 1.0 specification, XNS is self-defining—it is described in terms of itself. Unlike the XML Schema specification, however, XNS service specifications are dynamic. Since they are published as XNS identity documents, XNS service specifications can be discovered, versioned, published, subscribed, and linked just like any other data in an identity document. This allows XNS to be a truly organic, self-extending system.
1. Persons. Any natural-born individual, regardless of their legal status, can be represented by one or more XNS personal identities.
2. Organizations. Any legally defined organizational entity (including sole proprietorships, partnerships, corporations, non-profits, governments, public host communities, academic institutions, etc.) can be represented by one or more XNS organizational identities (also called business identities for short).
3. The general public. Many objects in the world have identity besides people and organizations. These are the basis for generic nouns in the English language – objects such as the planets in the solar system, the elements in the atomic table, the colors in the spectrum, the notes in a musical scale—upon whose general identity we must all agree in order to communicate with each other. These identities are not controlled by any person or organization, but by linguistic, cultural, or scientific convention. In XNS this class of identities are represented by XNS general identities under the auspices of XNSORG.
These three archetypes of identity controllers form a natural evolutionary progression. New identities, such as new words in a language or the discovery of a new dinosaur, typically start with an individual person, then spread outward into groups or organizations. Eventually those with the broadest public usefulness become part of the cultural fabric of society and end out in our generic vocabulary.
XNS models this organic process by allowing all three types of identity controllers to create, publish, and subscribe to XNS schema and service definitions.
Posted by tbailen at July 11, 2002 07:18 PM