[xtm-wg] Re: [XTM-CMS] Is there no data model ?

["Bernard Vatant" <b.vatant@wanadoo.fr>]

Sorry to be very much naive and basic, but Lars' remarks below seem to
allow me that for once.
May I ask if what is supposed to get out of all that is a model
*understandable* by a wide range of users, like e.g. managers of web
projects? Or will it remain a technical specialists' affair ?
If I understand well, XTM has some pretention to be a pervasive tool in the
near future. So we'll have to explain to these "non-specialists" why and
how it will change their life. Is this question premature or off-topic?
Would it generate some argument towards such or such model ? The technical
arguments flying far up over my head -even if I try to have a daily
immersion session reading the posts here - Hi Steve - I don't know if such
pedagogic concern is to be taken into account at this stage of work.
But I feel somehow it should be more of a commercial feature to be able to
explain, out of the simplest-possible-model, e.g "why XTM is a language
permitting a portable implementation of your view-of-the-world" than e.g.
"XTM has achieved formal closure". Does it make sense ?

Bernard

<Lars>
To me it seems important that the data model should simply disregard
facts such as names being privileged occurrences and types being
privileged associations. If not, I fear that we shall end up with a
soup-like model where everything is either a link or a resource and
everyone is left totally mystified as to how this thing is supposed to
be used.
Topic maps are useful because they take the joke Entity-Relationship
model of the universe that says 'generic entity with relationship to
other generic entities' and distinguishes certain kinds of entities
and relationships.
So while the fact that topic maps on the most abstract level only
consist of links and (references to) resources is deeply true and
useful, it is what topic maps have made out of that starting point
that is really useful about them.
</Lars>



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