Terminology open issue #1: IdP vs OP

[Drummond Reed]

To tear into the meat of the terminology open issues at
http://openid.net/wiki/index.php/Terminology, the first issue has already
received quite a bit of discussion: switching from Identity Provider (IdP)
to OpenID Provider (OP).

 

I was originally a supporter of this change, because I had always felt
Identity Provider was somewhat of a misnomer, particularly when it came to a
system like OpenID where the IdP was generally NOT the source of your
identifier.

 

However Eve Maler (co-chair of the OASIS SSTC that did SAML and co-editor of
the SAML Glossary) made this point in an earlier post:

 

<quote>

 

Just to be clear, "identity provider" in SAML isn't intended to mean that
this system entity is providing an identity to a digital subject -- it means
that this system entity is providing identity information (specifically
verification/authentication info) to a relying party/service provider.

 

 From the SAML glossary (now in HTML...):

 

http://www.oasis-open.org/committees/download.php/21053/saml-glossary-2.0-os
.html#IdentityProvider 

 

http://www.oasis-open.org/committees/download.php/21053/saml-glossary-2.0-os
.html#RelyingParty 

 

Often, but not always, a SAML authentication authority also serves as an
attribute authority:

 

http://www.oasis-open.org/committees/download.php/21053/saml-glossary-2.0-os
.html#AttributeAuthority 

 

<endquote>

 

For this reason, I have reversed my position and now feel that it would not
benefit the OpenID community to use a different term than that already
well-established by SAML.

 

-1 to making this change.

 

=Drummond 

 

 

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.openid.net/pipermail/openid-specs/attachments/20061120/b2db7e06/attachment-0002.htm>