OP Identifier vs. OP-Specific Identifier

Drummond Reed drummond.reed at cordance.net
Mon Nov 20 19:52:24 UTC 2006


There's a real downside to "defining new terms in context as needed": if
that term is used outside of that context (which happens all the time if the
term is useful), no one knows where it came from and can't reference the
definition in the Terminology section.

Much better to make sure all key terms are listed in the Terminology section
and then, for those that are specialized, give a reference to the specific
section of the spec.

It would be one thing if OpenID were proposed a boatload of new terminology.
But it currently has only 19 terms
(http://openid.net/wiki/index.php/Terminology), and seven of these are terms
from other specifications (SAML, XRI Resolution, or IETF RFCs). That leaves
exactly a dozen terms specific to OpenID.

It's no surprise that 7 of these are types of identifiers -- after all,
that's the foundation OpenID starts from.

=Drummond 

-----Original Message-----
From: specs-bounces at openid.net [mailto:specs-bounces at openid.net] On Behalf
Of Recordon, David
Sent: Sunday, November 19, 2006 10:54 PM
To: Dick Hardt
Cc: specs at openid.net
Subject: RE: OP Identifier vs. OP-Specific Identifier

You're confusing my lamenting with actually have a solution to propose.
:-\

Personally I'd keep the terminology section simple and then define new
terms in context as needed.

--David 

-----Original Message-----
From: Dick Hardt [mailto:dick at sxip.com] 
Sent: Sunday, November 19, 2006 10:37 PM
To: Recordon, David
Cc: specs at openid.net
Subject: Re: OP Identifier vs. OP-Specific Identifier

What would you propose?

I think the terminology should follow the parameter names we have.

The fact that one of the parameters is called "identity" adds more fuel
to the confusion. :-)

-- Dick

On 19-Nov-06, at 5:12 PM, Recordon, David wrote:

> So I'm working on cleaning up the terminology section with edits from 
> Drummond.  On first read I had no idea what the difference between "OP

> Identifier" and "OP-Specific Identifier" were.  Now that my brain has 
> kicked in I do, but I have the feeling this is going to be really 
> confusing for others reading the specification.
>
> I really think we need to get our terminology down, since right now it

> is honestly quite confusing:
>  - Identifier (umbrella definition)
>  - Claimed Identifier (umbrella definition)
>  - OP-Specific Identifier (needs context)
>  - OP Identifier (needs context)
>  - Public Identifier (tries to create context)
>  - Private Identifier (tries to create context)
>  - Privacy-protected login (have we even defined this)
>
> How can we clean this up?  I think the problem is that we're trying to

> describe features via the terminology section.
>
> --David
> _______________________________________________
> specs mailing list
> specs at openid.net
> http://openid.net/mailman/listinfo/specs
>
>


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