> From: Daniel Aleksandersen [mailto:aleksandersen+ietf@xxxxxxxxxx] > Hi, > > "Uniform Resource Identifier schemas describe resources. Why > then are some of the themost popular URIs schemas named as actions? > > mailto: is an action, whilst email: is a resource. The first > is the standard and widely supported, and the second is not > the standard and is not supported by a single application. > > Another example: > tel: is a resource, whilst callto: is an action. The second > is supported by Skype (a popular calling software) but is not > a standard, and the first is the standard but not supported > by a single application. The reason is historical, nothing more. The tag mailto was used to differentiate a mail message from the action of sending a mail. At the time we had a somewhat functional view of the web and uris. Mailto was actually implemented by running a script via termcap. There is something of a case that can be made for differentiating the mode of communiction: mailto, jabberto etc. Mailto can take a subject argument for instance. But its not a case I would argue for myself. The parameters are much better handled in other ways. The mailto URI should be regarded as a generalized contact identifier for a person or a group of people.
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