Content-type: text/html Downes.ca ~ Stephen's Web ~ OpenID Makes Web Identities Real and Appealing

Stephen Downes

Knowledge, Learning, Community
I got email over the weekend saying that and OpenID-enabled version of Explode! is in testing (just as I recommended :)). This is just the latest in a flurry of developments. People are catching on. This author summarizes the weekend reading: "If that pitch still hasn't infected you with OpenID fevor, I recommend watching Scott Kveton's quick pitch. Then digesting Simon Willison's talk on OpenID and his Six cool things you can build with OpenID. Then consider the fact that Firefox 3 will ship with native support for OpenID and that Microsoft is getting on board as well. Suddenly a future of OpenID everywhere starts looking mighty plausible." My own website will be OpenID-enabled shortly (and I am resisting the urge to Do It Now, even though I'm on a vacation). More OpenID links.

I do want to mention Tim Bray's objection to OpenID. In my view, it is this sort of thinking that has forced us to wait so long for anything like a single sign-on. "It seems obvious that if OpenID is ever going to be much use for real work in applications that matters, there are going to be whitelists of ID Providers." No. OpenID isn't about proving to your satisfaction that I am so-and-so, it's about proving it to my satisfaction as an identity-holder. That's why you don't need whitelists; whatever provider I use is by definition OK with me.

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Stephen Downes Stephen Downes, Casselman, Canada
stephen@downes.ca

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Last Updated: Apr 25, 2024 01:06 a.m.

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