[OpenID] Developer Preview: Identity in the browser - IDIB ...

[Steven Osborn]

Right now IDIB tries to discover the XRDS location via GET in both the 
http X-XRDS-Location header and http-equiv.  If it discovers a XRDS 
document that advertises IDIB support it asks the user to login.  So 
IDIB requires the RP to implicitly include XRDS location information on 
any page they wish the user to be prompted from.  I'm happy to talk 
about ways to improve this behavior.

I'm assuming when you say 'New User' you mean someone who hasn't used 
OpenID before.  In which case we can determine if a user has used IDIB 
to login before without the need for any type of XRDS discovery.  It 
would be possible if the user had not specified their OpenID to present 
something similar to the OpenID selector in the browser, but I'm not 
sure if that is the best solution or not.

We would have to message to the user that they _might_ have an OpenID 
already and list some places they may already have and OpenID with 
(Yahoo, AOL,  MySpace)  but unfortunately when you start talking about 
doing that it becomes a bit political/legal.

A possible solution would be to ask the user for an OpenID OR email 
address.  This way if they are not familiar with OpenID they can login 
via EAUT. (http://eaut.org/)  This may alleviate some of the new user 
hurdles since everyone will at the very least know what their email 
address is.

--
Steven Osborn
Founding Developer
Vidoop LLC

George Fletcher wrote:
> Just to make sure I understand...
>
> Along with the XRDS types defined on the wiki, does the RP just have 
> to return the X-XRDS-Location header to point to the XRDS file?  If 
> so, is the RP expected to return the X-XRDS-Location header even if an 
> explicit XRDS query had not been made?
>
> The reason I ask, is that I can see a mode for this plugin that is 
> proactive (e.g. the "New User" experience). This mode would do more 
> than just add a subtle tool bar but instead would open a dialog window 
> that says... "BTW, you have an identity that will allow you to log 
> into this site. Do you want to continue?" (proper UI wording of course).
>
> One of the biggest hurdles I see is not that people who know about 
> OpenID want an easier way to login... but rather that we want people 
> who don't even know they have an OpenID to be informed of that fact 
> and the benefits it provides.
>
> Thanks,
> George
>
> Scott Kveton wrote:
>> The Identity in the Browser (IDIB for short) project has launched over
>> on Google Code today:
>>
>> http://idib.googlecode.com
>>
>> The goal of this project is to produce an open source extension to
>> Firefox that helps with usability problems and addresses several
>> security vulnerabilities around OpenID.  Ideally this is the start of
>> making sense of what identity in the browser would look like.  In the
>> future, this could be the basis for integrated support in all modern
>> browsers if the project goes well.
>>
>> A couple of key points:
>>
>> * This is still very rough and not meant for general users yet
>>
>> * The work may lead to extensions to the OpenID protocol that may take
>> shape in the form of specifications - more information can be found on
>> the project page wiki:
>>
>> http://code.google.com/p/idib/w/list
>>
>> * The discussion about IDIB is happening on the mailing list here:
>>
>> http://groups.google.com/group/idib
>>
>> Hope to see you there!
>>
>> - Scott
>> _______________________________________________
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>> http://openid.net/mailman/listinfo/general
>>
>>   
>
> -- 
> Chief Architect                   AIM:  gffletch
> Identity Services                 Work: george.fletcher at corp.aol.com
> AOL LLC                           Home: gffletch at aol.com
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