generated from coulomb/repo-seed
tegwick
1c1b5c9bc6
Backfill all 23 research source notes with terminology extracts, modeling assumptions, conflicts, canonical mappings, and references. Refresh terminology artifacts, refine the conceptual model with explicit scenario paths, reconcile canon surfaces and open questions, and mark the workplan finished.
113 lines
4.4 KiB
Markdown
113 lines
4.4 KiB
Markdown
# FOAF Agent Person Group OnlineAccount
|
|
|
|
## Source Type
|
|
|
|
Semantic vocabulary. FOAF (Friend of a Friend) RDF vocabulary for persons,
|
|
agents, groups, and online accounts.
|
|
|
|
## Domain
|
|
|
|
Semantic web social identity, person/agent distinction, and account
|
|
representation.
|
|
|
|
## Why This Source Matters
|
|
|
|
FOAF distinguishes persons, agents, organizations, groups, accounts, and
|
|
membership-like properties — an early explicit separation of actor, account,
|
|
and online presence.
|
|
|
|
## Key Concepts
|
|
|
|
- **foaf:Person**: a person (human); may have name, homepage, depiction.
|
|
- **foaf:Agent**: anything that can do things; superclass of Person, Organization,
|
|
Group.
|
|
- **foaf:Organization**: collective agent with members and name.
|
|
- **foaf:Group**: collective agent with `member` property linking to agents.
|
|
- **foaf:OnlineAccount**: account on a service; links via `accountServiceHomepage`
|
|
and `accountName`.
|
|
- **foaf:OnlineChatAccount / OnlineGamingAccount**: specialized account types.
|
|
- **foaf:member**: agent belongs to group (inverse of Group membership).
|
|
- **foaf:knows**: social acquaintance link between agents (not authorization).
|
|
- **foaf:mbox / mbox_sha1sum**: email or hashed email identifiers.
|
|
- **foaf:openid**: OpenID identifier for agent.
|
|
- **foaf:Document / Image**: non-agent resources.
|
|
|
|
## Relevant Terminology
|
|
|
|
| Term | Source meaning |
|
|
| --- | --- |
|
|
| Person | Human being in FOAF sense. |
|
|
| Agent | Anything capable of action; includes persons and collectives. |
|
|
| Organization | Named collective agent. |
|
|
| Group | Collective agent with explicit members. |
|
|
| OnlineAccount | Presence on a service with account name. |
|
|
| member | Membership link from group to agent. |
|
|
| knows | Social network acquaintance between agents. |
|
|
| accountName | Handle on a service. |
|
|
| accountServiceHomepage | Service URL defining account namespace. |
|
|
| mbox | Email identifier (often `mailto:` URI). |
|
|
|
|
## Modeling Assumptions
|
|
|
|
- **Agent is the root actionable type**; Person is a specialization.
|
|
- **Person is explicitly human**, separate from accounts.
|
|
- **OnlineAccount is not the person**; it is an account on a service linked
|
|
to an agent.
|
|
- **Groups and Organizations are agents** with member properties.
|
|
- **Social knows is weak affiliation**, not trust or authorization.
|
|
- **Identifiers (mbox, openid) are properties**, not first-class scoped objects.
|
|
- **RDF graph allows multiple incomplete assertions** about same agents.
|
|
|
|
## Identity-Canon Implications
|
|
|
|
- FOAF **Person** maps closely to **Natural Person**.
|
|
- FOAF **Agent** maps to **Actor**.
|
|
- FOAF **Organization** / **Group** map to **Organization** / **Group**
|
|
collective actors.
|
|
- FOAF **OnlineAccount** maps to **Account** with service **Scope** defined
|
|
by `accountServiceHomepage`.
|
|
- **accountName** maps to **Identifier**.
|
|
- **member** maps to **Membership Relationship**.
|
|
- **knows** maps to **Affiliation Relationship** (social, weak).
|
|
- FOAF is strong evidence for **P1** (actor root) and **P2** (person ≠ account).
|
|
- Supports S01, S08, S09 with explicit person/account split.
|
|
|
|
## Terminology Conflicts
|
|
|
|
- **Agent vs. Artificial Agent**: FOAF Agent includes humans; canon Artificial
|
|
Agent is non-human only.
|
|
- **Group vs. Community**: FOAF Group is generic collective; community implies
|
|
participation norms.
|
|
- **OnlineAccount vs. Profile**: FOAF account is service presence; profile is
|
|
broader presentation surface.
|
|
- **knows vs. Following**: knows is bidirectional acquaintance; ActivityPub
|
|
Follow is directed.
|
|
- **mbox vs. Identifier**: mbox is contact + identifier; conflation risk.
|
|
|
|
## Candidate Canonical Mappings
|
|
|
|
| FOAF concept | Candidate canonical concept |
|
|
| --- | --- |
|
|
| Person | Natural Person |
|
|
| Agent | Actor |
|
|
| Organization | Organization |
|
|
| Group | Group |
|
|
| OnlineAccount | Account |
|
|
| accountName | Identifier |
|
|
| accountServiceHomepage | Scope (service namespace) |
|
|
| member | Membership Relationship |
|
|
| knows | Affiliation Relationship |
|
|
| mbox / openid | Identifier |
|
|
| depiction / name | Profile attributes |
|
|
|
|
## Open Questions
|
|
|
|
- Should FOAF OnlineAccount always imply Account, or sometimes Profile only?
|
|
- How should `mbox_sha1sum` map for privacy-preserving synonymity (weak match)?
|
|
- Does FOAF Group map to Group only, or also Community when informal?
|
|
- Should knows remain Affiliation, or split into Following vs. acquaintance?
|
|
|
|
## References
|
|
|
|
- FOAF vocabulary specification — http://xmlns.com/foaf/spec/
|
|
- FOAF 0.99 RDF schema — http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/ |