[news.eclipse.technology.etf] identity management for collaboration tool

["Dan Perl" <danperl@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

I have an idea for a collaboration tool that could be based on the Eclipse 
IDE.  This is only an idea at this stage and I may never follow up on it, 
but it illustrates some uses for identity management that I think could be 
relevant to the ETF project.  The ETF project is definitely going to be 
useful if I ever make my idea into a project.

I am thinking of a tool that allows several users in different locations to 
view and modify a project in the Eclipse IDE at the same time.  It could be 
used for code reviews and for pair programming.  Here are some interesting 
features for identity management in such a tool:

1. Roles for different identities, with different rights.  For instance, 
moderator, reviewers and author in the case of code reviews.  A reviewer can 
highlight some code and can post a comment on that code.  The moderator 
allows only one of the reviewers to execute actions on the code at any time. 
In the case of pair programming, two clients have equal roles but only one 
of them can modify a file at a particular time.  The two clients cooperate 
in relinquishing that right to each other.

2. Entities that may be associated with an identity.  I guess this is the 
context mentioned in the ETF proposal.  Entities may be a file or the entire 
project, or it may be the moderator's ability to assign the file to one of 
the reviewers.

3. Creating and managing identities.  In an enterprise, it may be achievable 
and even desirable to keep identities in a centralized directory.  However, 
in a case like a small open-source project, a better solution would be to 
allow each client to create an identity for himself/herself and share it 
with another client through a mechanism like email.  Once two clients have 
each other's identity, they can start a "trusted" session in the 
collaborative tool.

I have not searched yet for tools of this kind.  I suspect that there are 
some tools that have at least some elements of this idea.  But I think it 
would be interesting to have such a tool integrated with the Eclipse IDE.  I 
hope that the features I mentioned are relevant here.  Either way, they make 
me have an interest in the ETF project.

On another topic, not too long ago I was thinking about unified messaging 
systems and how it will probably happen in the not-so-distant future. 
Identity management is central in that too.  Imagine having a single 
identity on your home computer, your computer at work and your mobile phone. 
They could also be three "sub-identities" associated to a "parent identity" 
(for lack of better terms), with different capabilities.  By sending a 
message to your identity, the message may reach you on all your 
"sub-identities" or only on your "active" one.  Or imagine a "Jetsons 
family" identity, where a message is sent to all the family members' 
identities at the same time or in a specified order (until one of the family 
members acknowledges the message).  Would something like unified messaging 
be within the scope of the Rich Client Platform?  I should take a look at 
RCP anyway.

Dan Perl