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RDF For Desktop Metadata?

Posted by timothy on from the lateral-migration dept.

claes writes "There is an article "Metadata for the desktop" that suggests that RDF should be used to describe data in desktop environments. This is an interesting idea. RDF is already used by Creative Commons to attach license metadata to its works. Mozilla also supports it. RDF was designed for the web, but can it also find its way to the desktop? And what metadata is most important to describe?"

5 of 167 comments (clear)

  1. The killer app for metadata on the desktop by foidulus · · Score: 5, Funny

    is porn!
    Suppose today I want to see shaved asian hardcore action. Now provided that metadata searches are integrated into the OS(like they will be in Tiger), all I need to do is a quick metadata search on my hard drive and boom, there is what I am looking for.
    I mean provided there was a decent standard(a porn standards body would rule!) and good regex capabilities built into the OS, I would be willing to pay for porn. I know that there are comments built into the jpeg standard, but there are all sorts of porn file formats, it would be helpful to have a universal standard across them. It saves time, beats trying to search on google and going through a lot of crap just to get to something good. I am a man on the run, I have places to go, I can't be bogged down by my porn. Plus, think of the people that get to catagorize this stuff(well, the fun stuff anyway, not goatse), what an awesome job that would be!
    I should probably post AC, but I figure this post is bound to earn me at least one fan and/or freak.

    1. Re:The killer app for metadata on the desktop by PowerBook2k · · Score: 5, Funny
      Suppose today I want to see shaved asian hardcore action.


      Just check your email. If it's not there now, it will be soon enough.
  2. Definition:...? by bogaboga · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Why don't slashdoters define what meta-data is in the first place? Google's define: metadata lists not less than 20 definitions. Are we talking about "data about data"?

  3. FS support for metadata by doshell · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I've heard the NTFS file system is designed to allow the system to add any number of properties (besides the obvious filename, last access time and permissions) to any stored file. This is likely to be exploited by Longhorn, which is planned to be capable of appending metadata to newly created files (for example, if you download a file from the Internet, the system would likely append a Originated-From-URL property to it).

    What I wonder is, is there any filesystem in the FOSS world that supports something like this, or are there plans to make it supported before 20??, when Longhorn hits the stores? I see this as a critical feature that must be made available by non-Windows OSes.

    --
    Score: i, Imaginary
    1. Re:FS support for metadata by pizzarobot · · Score: 5, Informative

      Actually, you can. To add a metadata item called "hidden.txt" to a file called picture.jpeg, just type on the command line:

      notepad picture.jpeg:hidden.txt

      Notepad should say that it "created the file." You should notice that no new files have been created: just look for them with explorer. But you can later open this "file" and read and edit it.

      You can do this with any file with any metadata name.