OpenID

Maybe I am a bit late to the party, but OpenID seems to have made a surging comeback in the last month or so, not least in the Rails community. Its something I am looking to implement on a few projects of my own, and luckily (with Rails) I won’t have to re-invent the wheel. Here are some useful links on the matter:

• OpenID Rails Plugin – using the Ruby-OpenID gem
• Mephisto and OpenID support
• Collection of links at Ruby Inside
• PeepCode – will have a screencast on the matter soon.

Last year during @media2006, Mr. DHH questioned whether login/signup (and managing multiple usernames/passwords across the web) was such a big problem after all. With modern browsers capable of remembering passwords and client side tools to take care of the matter. You can see how 37 Signal’s new HighRise application handles it (with a small unobtrusive link in the login box corner).

For some more discussion on the good/bad aspects of OpenID, we have:

• Simon Willison, explains OpenID – Video Interview at Vitamin
• Positive thoughts at ‘We Break Stuff’

One awkward part of OpenID at the moment, is the use of a URL to login with; to the average user this has to be a bit confusing. With that, and few major sites offering OpenID support, it may be a while before it takes off across the web.