DID Spec Closure Process: Harmonize our two Cryptographic Key Material Proposals?

I leave for a trip to Mexico with my family tomorrow morning (back the
evening of Jan 2). Before I left I wanted to start a thread based on the
last DID Spec Closure call on Thursday Dec 21.

On that call we went over the two proposals that were submitted to answer
the question of how DID documents should handle cryptographic key material. You
can read both proposals in this Google doc
<https://docs.google.com/document/d/13fp7V3v1nBuhxTI55Al8KLG2kyxFthBz-Ush-ZL58KA/edit#>
.

During the call, Sam Smith and several others suggested that perhaps the
two proposals could be merged into an overall approach that everyone can
live with. From "glass half full" POV, such a merged proposal would be "the
best of both worlds":

   1. It would allow developers or applications who prefer "naive JSON" to
   use the DID document for basic key management with a simple array of keys
   described by type.
   2. It would also enable developers who want to use full JSON-LD and RDF
   semantics to describe cryptographic key material more richly using RDF
   relations and then reference the value of the key in the key management
   array.

Of course, from the "glass half empty" POV, such a blend of RDF and non-RDF
approaches to data description may not satisfy RDF purists.

In any case, since at the end of the call there was strong interest in a
harmonized proposal, I'm starting this thread to encourage discussion of it
between now and the next DID Spec Closure call (yes, we are continuing
these calls into January—*until the spec is closed*). For anyone who wants
to participate on the calls but does not yet have it on your calendar, the
calls are Thursdays at 10AM PT/1PM ET/6PM UK. Logistics is sent out to the
mailing list the day of each call.

As you have time over your break, please do respond to this thread and if
possible let us know:

   1. Are you in favor of pursuing a harmonized proposal along the lines
   discussed above?
   2. If so, what specific features/design would you suggest for the
   harmonized proposal?

Also feel free to start constructing a harmonized proposal in the Google
doc (I put a placeholder at the end of it for doing this). I'll be happy to
contribute after I return on Jan 2.

Happy New Year,

=Drummond

Received on Wednesday, 27 December 2017 07:17:28 UTC