On Thu, 23 Oct 2008, Paul Moore wrote:
However, may I suggest that instead of representing the DOI as a string we use a 32bit integer? I know that may sound a bit odd, but in the networking world most DOI values are represented as integers and when security labels are involved they tend to be 32bits. I understand that using a plain integer is much more abstract than a human readable string but it should make it easier to leverage existing and future* DOI frameworks.
I'd prefer to use string, which can be managed freely by the user, and be human-readable. Unlike IP layer networking, we're not constrained by e.g. having to fit in the IP options, and can simply convey the DOI as-is. This will also not prevent users from utilizing integers as the DOI if desired. In the common non-DoD case, people should be able to configure the DOI as simply as editing a configuration file to set the DOI to a domain name or arbitrary realm name.
*An informal group/list just formed to start discussing DOI management issues such as DOI formats, negotiation and translation.
URL ? - James -- James Morris <jmorris@namei.org>