Implementing YADIS with no new software

Tue Nov 1 10:01:50 PST 2005

On 11/1/05, Dan Libby <danda at videntity.org> wrote in response to Kurt Raschke:
> a) We are talking about YADIS, a new protocol. This should be implemented in
> identity servers, not in end-user created html pages. So I don't think
> end-user-accessibility is a big concern.

I see one problem with the capabilities being a property of the
identity server. It does not allow the user to choose some services
from one server and other services from another. For instance, if I
used videntity.org as my identity server and stored my profile data
there, but I wanted to use messaging provided by a LID service, I
would be forced to choose between the two. I firmly believe that
discovery should be independent of the identity server or any other
specific service.

Ignoring performance, I think that the ideal solution is a

<link rel="identity.services" href="..." />

in the <head> of the "identity" page that identifies services that the
user chooses. I don't care very much if the format is some kind of XML
or some well-specified simple markup, like an extension of the LID
capabilities format, as long as the user gets to choose separate
servers to provide his services.

Josh