[OpenID] host-meta and "acct:"

[SitG Admin]

>3) XRD with <Host> instead of <Subject>

Hypothetical, but plausible, scenario:

A developer realizes they need to indicate something different from 
Subject, but that they may need Subject later on. To avoid that 
future conflict (where they would find themselves forced to declare 
ActualSubject instead of just using Subject!), they use Host instead. 
Communicating this to the 3rd parties they deal with, and getting 
them to modify their own code to interop, is up to the developer :)

>4) Someone might come along and decide lets have <Title> instead of <Subject>

They won't get to make a unilateral decision, though. If they can't 
present compelling reasons why anyone ought to switch from using 
Subject to using Title, they'll probably be ignored ;)

>5) Anyone can have anything else instead of <Subject>

If they want to, sure. How effective it is may depend on how many 
others they can get to accomodate their approach - and it may depend 
on how many others *don't*. Remember that security through obscurity 
actually *works*, in some cases; if they have an undocumented, 
hexadeximal-encoded, (weakly) encrypted Subject line labeled as 
another field, 99% of 3rd parties (having no reason to even *attempt* 
to figure out what Subject line IF ANY there is) will not pursue that 
any further.

>Is this your idea of future compatibility?
>Why is it so difficult for people to see that this whole thing is 
>leading to a mess?

We're blinded by this whole idea of "majority consensus".

When you think that the majority's interests are in the actual 
*usefulness* of each spec, as defined by how many 3rd parties can be 
persuaded to practice the same methods (it's all about 
interoperability), your self-interest becomes self-limiting (it's all 
about enlightened self-interest): you don't want to exert too MUCH 
influence, making something perfect for YOU, because then it'll be 
too much trouble for everyone *else* (the Way of D'Shai is all about 
*balance*). The more accepting you can be of those who are different 
from you (it's all about tolerance), the more likely you are to 
receive cooperation instead of competition (Microsoft called this 
"Embrace and Extend"; pay it forward).

-Shade