Online Identity Management Service
Danyl Strype
Public
Seen by 143
Would it be possible, with existing tech, to create a one-stop shop* where a person can register an identity (eg myname.me), and point it at services, so regardless of who hosts their accounts for email, chat, fediverse, etc, another user can find and mention them using a universal ID like [email protected] .
DNS already allows this for email forwarding, and some email services can proxy fully the third-party domain name. The same [email protected] address can be used for both email and jabber, but only if there are email and jabber servers exclusively using that same domain. AFAIK there is no way a DNS server can respond to a request from;
* an XMPP server for a different jabber address currently associated with [email protected] (eg [email protected])
* a matrix homeserver for the matrix address currently associated with [email protected] (eg #me:matrix.org)
* a fediverse instance for the address currently associated with [email protected] (eg @[email protected])
If these use cases are unhandled at the protocol level, there's no way a user-facing DNS management console can provide these sorts of services. Are there other existing technologies or workarounds that could be used for this? Could Libravatar be a model?
EDIT: * by one-stop-shop I mean a service that can unify an identity across a range of protocols, not that this service should be the one ID portal for everyone on the net. On the contrary, I envision a plethora of these services, as with DNS registrars today, which is why I mention Libravatar as a model. There would need to be common protocols for resolving the DNS based identifier ([email protected]) to the underlying address it's being used as an alias for.
Danyl Strype Sun 12 Jul 2020 8:01AM
I share the scepticism about blockchain hype. But it's akin to the dotcom bubble, there are legitimate use cases for the technology, which will survive the wave of financial speculation currently engulfing it. Has anyone looked at the details of how Jami uses it, and whether it might have wider applications?
Arnold Schrijver Sun 12 Jul 2020 8:18AM
there are legitimate use cases for the technology
My personal opinion is to wait until these use cases have been proven to work and their technology matured. I fully avoid blockchain myself, but still read about claims for legitimate use cases on HN. They are either consistently debunked or more straightforward, more feasible solution approaches already exist. Is HN too critical wrt blockchain? Maybe, but I trust the critical thinking and judgment of HN folks more, than I trust any blockchain marketing story.. for now.
mfioretti Mon 13 Jul 2020 8:28AM
Hy @Danyl Strype . I really think it addresses the question. Because what I called percloud in 2013 and described again in all the posts linked in my previous comment is EXACTLY a package / bundle of software that includes email, jabber and other servers packaged for personal use all under one domain name. Seven years later, judging from (lack of ) progress and mass adoption of alternatives, that architecture continues to seem to me much simpler than other alternatives to address the same question.
Danyl Strype Tue 14 Jul 2020 11:04AM
@mfioretti wrote:
> I really think it addresses the question.
The question is about how to avoid self-hosting, and migrate our jabber
(or fediverse) presence from one community-hosted server to another,
while keeping the same ID. You proposed this as a solution:
> a package / bundle of software that includes email, jabber and other servers packaged for personal use all under one domain name.
This is already possible. YUNOhost and FreedomBone are GNU/Linux distros
users can install to our own PC, or a VPS, and voila we have exactly
what you propose in the quote above. An individual can install and use
it for themselves, as can a small group.
But it doesn't solve the core problem here. If I set up YUNOhost, I have
to somehow contact everyone who already has me as a contact on jabber,
or follows me on the fediverse, and let them know my IDs have changed
from whatever jabber/ fediverse hosts I was using to the new ones under
my own domain. If I've been running Freedombone for a while, but I lose
my job and can't afford to keep paying for VPS (or broadband for the
personal server in my closet), I can't keep using my personal domain as
my jabber/ fediverse IDs.
The question I asked in the discussion starter was how do we fix that?
Danyl Strype Wed 15 Jul 2020 11:39AM
Hmm. Perhaps I've assumed shared context that doesn't exist. Jami (formerly Ring) is a serverless messaging app that is part of the GNU Project. It doesn't depend in any way on a blockchain for its core functions. But as mentioned, Jami addresses are long and hard to remember. They wanted to give users unique human-readable usernames, without running a centralized identity server, and make it as easy as possible for others to host a node. That's why they chose a blockchain approach.
@Arnold Schrijver
wait until these use cases have been proven to work
AFAIK it works right now. You can test it for yourself by installing Jami (on any major OS) and registering a username. If anyone who's looked at the code and documentation has a technical reason to criticize their approach, I'd be keen to know about it. Otherwise, the anti-blockchain sentiment is noted and let's move on to greener pastures 😊
Danyl Strype Mon 4 Sep 2023 3:48AM
@Lynn Foster @Bob Haugen This appears to be comment spam. Unless anyone objects, I will delete this comment and remove the "Sofa Blum" account that posted it from the group.
EDIT: The exact same comment has been posted on at least one other thread: https://www.loomio.com/d/knxKE1pL/next-generation-room-services-and-stewarding-of-digital-tools-infrastructure/25
Lynn Foster Mon 4 Sep 2023 11:39AM
@Danyl Strype thank you for catching this! Yes, please.
Danyl Strype Mon 18 Sep 2023 3:26AM
@Lynn Foster
thank you for catching this! Yes, please.
I have removed the Sofia Blum account and removed the versions of the link spam I could find. If I anyone sees any I missed, please let the admins know.
martin ➬ · Sun 12 Jul 2020 3:38AM
I am so tired of the blockchain hype especially in the identity domain. No matter what the solution, the crux is trust root management, and blockchain has nothing to offer in this space.