[OpenID] OpenID required

[Peter Williams]

The national association of realtors has just released an open source saml2 websso implementation. It builds on the opensaml2 tookkit for java. .Net users can access the java components via bridging. Taking a leaf out of the openid book, entities are named by default using urls, and metadata is retrived by applications dynamically.

The release of a ruby xri resolver is great news. Ruby on windows can usually export com interfaces, allowing thousands of legacy application to easily integrate. (For example rapattoni magic membership system controlling the records of a million realtors in the US can and does use com components on windows).

Ping identity announced at their user group conference that their multiprototol fed 5.0 server would support openid2 as a rp. We have established that we can release our openid/ping gateway application as open source (home needed), that also allows the ping fed server to act as a op, via saml2 idp proxying bindings.

Looking good!



-----Original Message-----
From: "Del Dhanoa" <dhanoad at yahoo.com>
To: "Simon Willison" <simon at simonwillison.net>; "Nick Cernis | Goburo" <nick at goburo.com>
Cc: "general at openid.net" <general at openid.net>
Sent: 10/15/07 4:04 AM
Subject: Re: [OpenID] OpenID required

I agree with Simon -- there is too high a barrier for the "average Joe" to adopt Openid.  Openid needs a slicker marketing strategy that explains what it does to the average user -- make that the below average user -- in a clean and concise method.  

I remember reading a 2000+ word story about Bob, Jane and her evil sister Sally where the author tries to explain Openid to the average user.  He lost me after the 2nd paragraph and I felt like I had another 20 pages to wade through.  (No offense to the guy/gal who wrote that article).

Openid sounds great but it has a huge obstacle for the general public.  Friends, stop thinking like webdevs and start thinking like an innocent 10 year old boy or a 65 year old grandmother -- people who are still just beginning to understand the intarw3b.  Once Openid is understood by their level (not meant in a deragatory way) then adoption will become a lot easier.

- Del



Simon Willison <simon at simonwillison.net> wrote: On 15 Oct 2007, at 09:25, Nick Cernis | Goburo wrote:
> Shortly we'll be releasing our first OpenID-enabled web app into  
> the wild, and are currently considering making it a condition at  
> signup that an OpenID is required. There would be no alternative  
> sign up method - get an OpenID or do not pass go. Is it a good idea  
> championing OpenID in this way, or do people here consider it  
> commercial suicide given OpenID's fairly narrow (but rapidly  
> growing) uptake? My assumption is that one day OpenID will be a  
> replacement for traditional sign-up methods - why not start the  
> revolution now and give it a further kick-start?

I've been recommending people don't do this, because the overhead of  
understanding OpenID is currently still a big barrier to adoption for  
mainstream users. In my opinion, best practice for embracing OpenID  
is to provide it as an optional alternative to setting a username and  
password, and to use sreg to help pre-populate your site's signup form.

I also don't believe that OpenID should be thought of as an either-or  
proposition - an OpenID is just another credential that can be used  
to sign in to a service (kind of like having multiple passwords in  
case you forget one of them).

zooomr.com forced OpenID instead of regular signups for quite a  
while, but they've now switched back to offering both: http:// 
www.zooomr.com/login/

http://ma.gnolia.com/ remains my favourite example of a well-designed  
OpenID consumer.

Hope that helps,

Simon Willison
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