RE: A philosophical question about large directory structures

+ >I guess it is a matter of degree.  I do not believe that *all* 
+ directories
+ >in the world will be interconnected - ever, but I am a great believer in
+ >ensuring that namespace design takes the possibility into account.
+ 
+ Neither do I, any more than I believe that all networks using IP 
+ technology 
+ will be interconnected.
+ 
+ What I'm thinking of as "interconnected" is some set of directory 
+ services 
+ where the following are true:
+ 
+ - For any service in the set, naming is unique

unique naming is necessary of course, but there may be several different disjunct name spaces that are (somehow) connected through referral servers (preferably by using NSSR's ;-). I don't think disjunct name spaces are a problem therefore.

The real problem is standardizing object classes and attributes so that people can actually read information from each other's directories. 

Peter Jurg
M&I/STELVIO

+ - From some point in the set, it is possible to discover all the 
+ other ones
+    if nobody's used access control to block that discovery (admin 
+ decision,
+    not technical deficency).
+