[oslc-core] "One last" change to OSLC Core representations

[Dave]

I've got one last change I would like to make before finalization this week.

We already made changes last week to simplify the section, by removing
the requirement for the abbreviated RDF/XML. As of now we say OSLC
services MUST provide/accept RDF/XML and MAY provide/accept other
formats.

I'd like to make the Core less prescriptive and more realistic by
changing that MUST to a SHOULD, adding more concise explanation of
intent and removing the 5 paragraphs on "why does OSLC require
RDF/XML". It's less prescriptive because SHOULD is looser than MUST
and it's more realistic because, as far as I know, OSLC
implementations don't yet provide/accept full RDF/XML -- there are
limitations still being worked out.

Here's the new spec text that I propose:


OSLC resource representations come in many forms and are subject to
standard HTTP mechanisms for content negotiation.

OSLC domain specifications are expected to (1) require the
representations needed for the specific scenarios that they are
addressing and (2) recognize that different representations are
appropriate for different purposes. For example, browser oriented
scenarios might be best addressed by JSON or Atom format
representations. For these reasons, OSLC services MAY provide and
accept standard or emerging standard formats such as XML, JSON, HTML,
Turtle and the Atom Syndication Format.

OSLC domain specifications are also expected to follow common
practices and conventions that are in concert with existing industry
standards and offer consistency across domains. All of the OSLC
specifications are built upon the standard RDF data model, allowing
OSLC to align with the W3C's Linked Data initiative. In addition, all
OSLC specifications have adopted the convention to illustrate RDF/XML
representations and will typically require RDF/XML representations to
enable consistency across OSLC implementations.

For those reasons, OSLC services SHOULD provide and accept RDF/XML
representations for each OSLC resource. Though the OSLC Core workgroup
does provide guidance on how to form RDF/XML representations using a
subset of RDF/XML (reference: OSLC Core Representations Guidance) ,
OSLC clients SHOULD NOT assume any specific form of RDF/XML. It is
recommended that OSLC services also provide an HTML representation for
each resource.


Thanks,
Dave