Thoughts to think about:
- What’s more important? …the name of something or the something?
- Under what conditions might the relative importance change?
- What is the difference between a name, an identifier (see below for a definition), and a label?
Here’s a few examples to ponder. The discussion follows at the end of this article.
Examples
Apple (A-p-p-l-e) and Apples
Name: apple (a-p-p-l-e)
Figure 1. Somethings: (a) real apple, (b) ceramic apple, (c) apple candle, and (d) a bad apple 😉
House Numbers and Houses
Name: A specific house number
Figure 2. Somethings: (a) house with a specific numeric house number, and (b) house with script house number with a specific value
Addresses and Houses
Name: A specific address
Figure 3. Somethings: (a) house with specific numbered street address, (b) property with a specific numbered street address, and (c) house specific numeric house number and a specific numbered street address
Domain Names and DNS Resource Records
This (and the following) example are important because they represent 2 completely different, independent databases indexed/keyed by the same name: an Internet domain name.
Name: Domain name microsoft.com
Figure 4. Somethings: DNS Resource Records for microsoft.com:
(top) single “A” record (default), (middle) all “A” records, and (bottom) all resource records
To learn more about DNS, read DNS (Domain Name Service): A Detailed, High-level Overview.
Domain Names and WHOIS Database Records
This (and the previous) example are important because they represent 2 completely different, independent databases indexed/keyed by the same name: an Internet domain name. Thank you goes to Daniel Hardman for suggesting this one.
Name: Domain name microsoft.com
Figure 5. Somethings: WHOIS Database Record for microsoft.com
Github Project Respository Names
Name: https://github.com/mwherman2000/indy-arm.git
Read Git repository internal format explained for a detailed explanation of the structure of the .git folder that is created in the local file system when a GitHub project repository is cloned using, for example:
git clone https://github.com/mwherman2000/indy-arm.git
Several additional references (links) are also included in the article.
Figure 6. Somethings: GitHib Project Repository .git Local Folder
Discussion
TODO
Roles of a Name
- noun: a-p-p-l-e
- a partial identifier/address: a house number
- a more complete identifier/address: the address of a house
- a more complete identifier/address of a related entity: the address of a property that has house
- a unique identifier: a domain name (although domain names can be used to index completely different collections – e.g. DNS Resource Records and WHOIS Database Records)
TODO
What a name is, what it is interpreted to be, and what it actually is can be are completely different things.
Possession of a something vs. control of something aren’t necessarily the same thing.
TODO
What is an “identifier”?
Figure 6. Identifier: Definition
Hyperonomy Digital Identity Lab™ - hyperonomy.com 
Michael: I thought I’d post a follow-up to our live conversation here.
We decided that in the case of DIDs (and probably many other conceptual spaces), there are 3 things: the name, the metadata, and the something.
The something probably exists first. The name comes second. There is typically interplay between the name and the something, such that the something’s boundaries become clearer as the name is chosen; either the name or the something may get adjusted a bit in this give-and-take.
But clearly, the name is secondary to the thing, and the metadata is secondary to the other two. There can be many metadatas for the same something, too.
Does this seem right to you?
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Yes …domain name to DNS Resource Records and domain name to WHOIS dtabase entries are 2 examples. [I’ve updated the article.] Thank you Daniel
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