Weekend Project: Accept OpenID Logins

"OpenID is a critical piece of "Open Web" infrastructure. The ability to authenticate users without relying on a single gatekeeper entity puts every site on an equal playing field. As a result, community-driven, decentralized networks can enjoy all the same advantages as closed-source, proprietary players, and end users retain more of their autonomy and privacy. All of that sounds well and good, but it is not much use if you don't enable OpenID on the sites that you maintain. This weekend, why not add support for OpenID logins to your web service? You might be surprised how many LAMP and LAMP-like frameworks have a straightforward solution.

"Admittedly, OpenID had its share of problems, particularly in the early days. Before there were ubiquitous OpenID providers, it was confusing for users and seemed indistinguishable from other single-sign-on systems. On top of that, OpenID login widgets suffered from the "NASCAR problem" (confronting users with a cacophony of tiny site-logo buttons with little explanation), the standards process seemed to get bogged down entirely, and other technologies like OAuth started competing for developer attention."

Complete Story

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• OpenID Gets Explained, Maligned, and Dropped(Jan 08, 2009)
• The Problem(s) with OpenID(May 27, 2008)
• OpenID Gets Star Power(Feb 08, 2008)
• StartSSL OpenID Provider(Jan 23, 2008)
• OpenID Gets Update: Is It Safe?(Dec 11, 2007)
• OpenID Becomes Enterprising(Dec 10, 2007)