Jim W doesn t like content because a CGI script is not content, but rather produces content. Still, we want to include it in what we are talking about. The HTTP spec lets you do content negotiation, so that a resource s state includes several distinct entity bodies. Computational processes complicate things further. So we are trying to say that references have no state that would produce a GET entity body.
References do have persistent state that is properties.
Metadata is properties. In 2518, entity headers and properties count as properties. Check on the definitions of message body vs. entity body. We need a mental model of the resource, so we need to talk about the nature of the resource, not just about what goes over the wire. Geoff thinks not.