NetworkAccountProfiles

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Summary

As users continue to move and more of their data online through various service providers they need ways to integrate those services with the applications that exist on their desktop. One part of this problem is in account management as most services encompass many different features, and thus will touch several applications on the desktop. The user should only have to enter account information once and be able to use that account throughout their desktop experience. This blueprint aims to solve the problem of configuring and maintaining desktop wide network accounts.

Release Note

Concat the dependent specs.

Rationale

  • The importance of network services has increased over the last few years. Call it Web 2.0 or any other buzzword that you'd like, but users now expect these services. It's important that we start building ways for these services to get into desktop applications.
  • Canonical is planning to be a provider of network services to Ubuntu users that enhance the Ubuntu experience. Many services that require connecting between multiple computers and devices require an intermediary network server, but it must be easy to use. This framework will lay the basis for providing such services on Ubuntu.

Use Cases

  • A user logs into their IM client with an account that provides other services. When using those other services in other desktop applications should not have to prompt for login information and should be able to use the information already supplied by the user.
  • An application provides a network related service and would like to check if there are any shared login accounts that could be used. It can query to see which accounts are known and which are services are available without having to maintain that information itself.

Design

The basics of the design are to have a separate logical entity (may be a processes, but more likely activated by DBus) which can be queried by applications wishing to use network accounts. This "profile manager" will sit across DBus and provide a consistent interface to a variety of services that are available to any application. It will also provide a way for an application to get the appropriate login information required to use the service.

  • NAP Datastore discusses the design and implementation of the data store itself.

  • NAP Applications discusses the changes required for individual applications to use NAP.

  • NAP Launchpad discusses the usage of the Launchpad Authentication Architecture to provide more robust logins for Ubuntu.net services.

  • NAP Management discusses the management of NAP based accounts.

Migration

Migration may be supported by individual applications, but is not a global requirement.

Comments

  • Only adding so that the content will change and the links will update.
  • Why is GNOME Keyring not enough? -- petr.bug


CategorySpec

DesktopTeam/Specs/NetworkAccountProfiles (last edited 2008-08-06 16:19:27 by localhost)