[s17n]

URLs lasting forever was a beautiful dream but in reality, it seems that 99% of URLs don't in fact last forever. Rather than endlessly fighting a losing battle, maybe we should build the technology around the assumption that infrastructure isn't permanent?

[nonethewiser]

>maybe we should build the technology around the assumption that infrastructure isn't permanent?

Yes. Also not using a url shortener as infrastructure.

[dreamcompiler]

URNs were supposed to solve that problem by separating the identity of the thing from the location of the thing.

But they never became popular and then link shorteners reimplemented the idea, badly.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uniform_Resource_Name

[hoppp]

Yes.

domain names often exchange hands and a URL that is supposed to last forever can turn into malicious phishing link over time.

[emaro]

In theory a content-addressed system like IPFS would be the best: if someone online still has a copy, you can get it too.

[jjmarr]

URL identify the location of a resource on a network, not the resource itself, and so are not required to be permanent or unique. That's why they're called "uniform resource locators".

This problem was recognized in 1997 and is why the Digital Object Identifier was invented.