Comments on: Why Your Social Website Should Support OpenID

By: csajozás

csajozás — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 18:51:12 +0000

Buy Yankee Candles Cheap…

[...]below you’ll find the link to some sites that we think you should visit[...]…

By: links for 2008-04-14

links for 2008-04-14 — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 07:36:42 +0000

[...] Virtuous Code › Why Your Social Website Should Support OpenID Good arguments as to why websites should support OpenID, though only from the viewpoint of the end user rather than the website owner. (tags: Internet webstandards security programming socialmedia) [...]

By: David Recordon

David Recordon — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 01:01:54 +0000

Whether OpenID in the form that you see it today becomes the same thing that people see a few years from now in terms of online identity or not, is a bit beyond the point. As Avdi said, there is true value to him as a user of not having to create yet another account or being able to now have a sense of reputation that you can carry with you. If it doesn’t happen to be OpenID, but just the notion of identity that people own, control, and can take with them on a global scale develops because of OpenID then isn’t that success too?

While I certainly respect Stefan Brands, I don’t agree with many of the points he made as I later blogged. http://daveman692.livejournal.com/310578.html

By: David Recordon

David Recordon — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 23:01:54 +0000

Whether OpenID in the form that you see it today becomes the same thing that people see a few years from now in terms of online identity or not, is a bit beyond the point. As Avdi said, there is true value to him as a user of not having to create yet another account or being able to now have a sense of reputation that you can carry with you. If it doesn't happen to be OpenID, but just the notion of identity that people own, control, and can take with them on a global scale develops because of OpenID then isn't that success too?

While I certainly respect Stefan Brands, I don't agree with many of the points he made as I later blogged. http://daveman692.livejournal.com/310578.html

By: Earle Martin

Earle Martin — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 19:30:16 +0000

Replying to the post Giles links to (since he doesn’t have commenting enabled):

“The idea that I would want the same login at LiveJournal, where I post my personal soap operas semi-privately to very old friends with too much time on their hands, and Digg, where I post my own blog entries to promote them to the worldwide professional developer community, is flawed at best.”

This is why a good OpenID provider (such as MyOpenID, who I use) will allow you to create personas. You can share as much or as little as you like between your various online accounts. Please don’t rag on something until you’re aware of all its aspects.

By: Earle Martin

Earle Martin — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 17:30:16 +0000

Replying to the post Giles links to (since he doesn't have commenting enabled):

"The idea that I would want the same login at LiveJournal, where I post my personal soap operas semi-privately to very old friends with too much time on their hands, and Digg, where I post my own blog entries to promote them to the worldwide professional developer community, is flawed at best."

This is why a good OpenID provider (such as MyOpenID, who I use) will allow you to create personas. You can share as much or as little as you like between your various online accounts. Please don't rag on something until you're aware of all its aspects.

By: avdi

avdi — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 02:55:12 +0000

Ryan, thanks for that link. I am open to the idea that there are security problems with OpenID, and I have to say some of the cases put forward in that article are compelling (although the intro is a little off-putting – “our innovative technology for user-centric identity management” – conflict of interest much?). What I was responding to was the assertion that there was no apparent utility in OpenID, something I find provably false.

I’m not concerned so much about the issue of centralization – I am my own OpenID provider. (And yes, I realize that I am in the minority in that). The fact that I *can* be my own provider, though, makes OpenID less centralized than previous attempts at single sign-on.

I could probably be convinced that OpenID is not the best solution, although it would take concrete examples of better solutions. What I am not interested in is people telling me that it serves no purpose. It serves me well, and if it is flawed I want to hear about improvements, not hand-waving about how nobody needs it anyway.

By: avdi

avdi — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 00:55:12 +0000

I'm not concerned so much about the issue of centralization – I am my own OpenID provider. (And yes, I realize that I am in the minority in that). The fact that I *can* be my own provider, though, makes OpenID less centralized than previous attempts at single sign-on.

By: Ryan Grove

Ryan Grove — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 00:53:27 +0000

OpenID may be convenient, but it’s also a security nightmare:

http://idcorner.org/2007/08/22/the-problems-with-openid/

By: avdi

avdi — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 00:33:53 +0000

Giles, I’m a user. I’m speaking as a user, and nothing else. OpenID is of genuine value to me as a user. It is convenient and makes my life easier. Perhaps every other user in the world maps to your model and finds no use at all in it. But for me it has real utility. Chris was looking for how it was useful, and so (I thought) were you, and now I’ve explained it.