[od-discuss] Misalignment between Open Definition and Open Data Handbook

Fri May 15 16:32:49 UTC 2015

Is there some reason why the handbook can't align with the definition?

We have process in place if it turns out that the definition needs
improvement.

Herb

On Fri, May 15, 2015 at 2:18 AM, Stephen Gates <stephen.gates at me.com> wrote:

> Hello,
>
> I don’t think the definitions between the Open Format portion of the Open
> Definition <http://opendefinition.org/od/> and the Open Data Handbook
> align.
>
> Firstly, in the Open Data Handbook the term Five stars of open data
> <http://opendatahandbook.org/glossary/en/terms/five-stars-of-open-data/> states,
> "*The Open Definition
> <http://opendatahandbook.org/glossary/en/terms/open-definition/> requires
> data to score 3 stars in order to qualify as open, not requiring RDF
> <http://opendatahandbook.org/glossary/en/terms/rdf/> or linking*”.
>
> I’m not sure that it’s correct to say the data must be published as 3 star
> data.
>
> The Open Format states, “*Specifically, data should be machine-readable,
> available in bulk, and provided in an open format (i.e., a format with a
> freely available published specification which places no restrictions,
> monetary or otherwise, upon its use) or, at the very least, can be
> processed with at least one free/libre/open-source software tool*”.
>
> The keyword here is “*should*” (i.e. not “*must"*). IETF RFC2119
> <http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc2119.txt> provides clear definitions of words
> like, should, must, shall, etc. So my reading of the Open Definition is
> that there is no requirement to publish 3 star data.
>
> Secondly, the Open Data Handbook defines Open Format
> <http://opendatahandbook.org/glossary/en/terms/open-format/> as, “*A file
> format <http://opendatahandbook.org/glossary/en/terms/file-format/> whose
> structure is set out in agreed standards
> <http://opendatahandbook.org/glossary/en/terms/standard>, overseen and
> published by a non-commercial expert body. A file in an open format enjoys
> the guarantee that it can be correctly read by a range of different
> software programs or used to pass information between them*”.
>
> This compares with Open Format in the Open Definition, “*an open format
> (i.e., a format with a freely available published specification which
> places no restrictions, monetary or otherwise, upon its use) or, at the
> very least, can be processed with at least one free/libre/open-source
> software tool*”.
>
> These may appear similar but the keyword here is “or”, so a format can be
> open if it is defined by a standard or can be processes by one open-source
> software program.
>
>
> This is further complicated by the proposed 2.1 version of the Open Format
> (
> https://github.com/okfn/opendefinition/blob/master/source/open-definition-2.1-dev.markdown)
>  that currently drops the requirement for an open format to be defined by a
> standard (based on the checked history of standards
> https://lists.okfn.org/pipermail/od-discuss/2015-May/001344.html)
>
> The Open Format in v2.1 currently reads, “The *work* *must* be provided
> in an open format. An open format is one which places no restrictions,
> monetary or otherwise, upon its use and can be fully processed with at
> least one free/libre/open-source software tool. Data *must* be
> machine-readable and *should* be provided in bulk.”.
>
> In this change fixes the “should” issue above by using “must” but
> everything hangs on the meaning of “machine-readable”.
> - Open Data Handbook defines machine-readable at
> http://opendatahandbook.org/glossary/en/terms/machine-readable/
> - Open Definition does not define machine-readable
>
>
> I’ve tried to explore the Open Format Definition recently with this update
> to the Open Format page http://opendefinition.org/ofd/
>
> I think as both products are badged under the Open Knowledge brand, there
> should be strong alignment in the definitions.
>
>
> thanks for reading this far.
>
> Stephen Gates
>
>
>
>
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