Thursday August 2, 2018; 3:08 PM EDT
I use Twitter as the identity system for my browser-based apps. To see how it works, log onto Radio3, MyWord, feedBase, LO2 or Little Card Editor. #- I like it, it works well, and takes a difficult problem off my plate. It takes a complicated problem and makes it relatively simple for me, as a developer. #
- Here's how it works, at a very high level. I send you over there to log in, and in return I get your unique screenname and a bit of info about you (the stuff you put into your profile). And a few other bits, like when you created your Twitter account. #
- An example of the data that Twitter gives an app about a user (me).#
- I also get the ability to post in your name, but my software never uses that ability unless you specifically ask it to. For example, there's a tweet icon in LO2 that lets you send the text of the cursor headline to Twitter as a tweet. Nice functionality to have, but hardly mission-critical.#
- I'm concerned that at some point Twitter may decide not to allow this use. I would prefer if they tightened the restrictions on posting, maybe eliminate it, that would be okay. But I would have a problem if they canceled the service. #
- Pretty sure nothing this simple exists in the open source world. I could be wrong. Either way this is something we should have, and it should be good. debugged, well burned-in. It would be nice if a public foundation ran the service, the way Twitter does. I know, keep dreaming. 💥#