[Auth]Identity Services Definition

[Adam Theo]

Hi, all. Started work on a "Definition of what makes up a complete 
Identity system". Requirements, features, frameworks used to create 
features, etc.

However, I've hit halfway, but lost direction and focus. I started off 
all organized, with the list: Addressing, Profiles, Authentication, 
Authorization, Presence, Trust, Discovery. Then I realized that Identity 
needed to run over a Transport, and often used a Subscription framework 
to enable Presence and Profile subscriptions, as well as Negotiation to 
automatically create agreements and find commonalities. I've ended up 
with a jumbled list of subjects that I'm no longer sure how they relate 
to each other or in a larger context. After all, Subscription isn't so 
much a feature as it is a tool to make other features. That's easy, but 
what about Authorization? I would easily consider that a feature, yet it 
is used to protect Profiles and Presence information. What about Naming? 
Is it a feature or a tool to create features?

This is what I have so far: http://www.theoretic.com/identity

I need a new direction and new ideas. I started off thinking it would be 
an easy list of features, but I'm realizing there is alot more to an 
Identity system than it's features, and I'm struggling to figure out how 
to organize it all.

What I first need is a truely complete list of features. Should I make 
"Single Sign-On" a feature, or keep it as a sub-issue of Authentication? 
Issues like this need to be resolved, and I need your help. Could 
everyone here help me? First by making a complete list of features of a 
"complete" Identity system? By complete I mean "requirements and 
options", "everything possibly relevant". We can take the next step from 
there by looking at the relationships between the various features.

Thanks, all. I hope to turn this into a community project that will help 
DotGNU Virtual Identities and my own Genio [ 
http://www.theoretic.com/genio ] project with a clear direction and focus.

--
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