[news.eclipse.technology.etf] Re: identity management for collaboration

["Jeff McAffer" <jeff_nospam_mcaffer@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Dan,

You should check out the ECF project as well (on the communication front).
Note that XMPP enables some of what you are talking about.

As for integrated into RCP, it would be great to have it be available to RCP
application writers but they are a very heterogeneous group of people so it
should not be fundamental to RCP.

Jeff

"Dan Perl" <danperl@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:crvpak$pdj$1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> 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
>
>