Re: DID Method utilizing PGP/GPG keyservers for seamless on-boarding

Thank you for the feedback. I don’t want to push this any further, but
I do want to share a concern regarding the expectations surrounding
adoption. How do we define success? Are we comparing ourselves to the
25 million BlueSky users who are largely unaware of DIDs, or those who
are unable to fully use a DID generated by BlueSky due to a lack of
access to the private key?

While I don’t fully align with BlueSky's approach in terms of DIDs, I
remain hopeful for their success. I just think it's important to
clarify what we consider meaningful adoption and whether it's about
building understanding and usage among a tech audience or aiming for
broader mainstream acceptance.

>  From a technical perspective it would certainly be interesting to
> define such a PGP-based DID method, to illustrate how DIDs can really
> serve as an abstraction layer for pretty much any key-based identifier
> system.

That's my point: to lower barriers, foster synergies, and enable
seamless integration. That should be the right path forward - not
seeking a unicorn.

Best,
Filip

On Fri, Dec 13, 2024 at 5:06 PM Markus Sabadello <markus@danubetech.com> wrote:
>
> Not sure about potential adoption.
>
>  From a technical perspective it would certainly be interesting to
> define such a PGP-based DID method, to illustrate how DIDs can really
> serve as an abstraction layer for pretty much any key-based identifier
> system.
>
> Markus
>
> On 12/13/24 11:53 PM, Filip Kolarik wrote:
> > Thank you for the feedback. GPG keys are widely used, for example, by
> > GitHub users to obtain verified badges (alongside SSH keys), for
> > signing artifacts published on Maven Central, and Ubuntu has a
> > built-in key manager connected to key servers. These are just a few
> > examples, and I’m sure there are many more.
> >
> > Focusing on a smaller group (perhaps in the lower hundreds of
> > thousands?) at this stage of adoption could be far more beneficial for
> > the community than attempting to find a use case targeting millions of
> > non-technical users who may not fully grasp the purpose or value. By
> > expanding the current community of developers, we could help create
> > broader awareness and adoption over time.
> >
> > Best
> > Filip
> >
> > On Fri, Dec 13, 2024 at 2:49 PM Manu Sporny <msporny@digitalbazaar.com> wrote:
> >> On Thu, Dec 12, 2024 at 9:00 PM Filip Kolarik <filip26@gmail.com> wrote:
> >>> I’d appreciate any thoughts or feedback on this idea, as well as
> >>> insight into whether there is interest or alignment with the goals of
> >>> this group.
> >> There was a previous attempt at a did:pgp, but I don't think it really
> >> went anywhere. I think the general thinking has been: "Yes, but how
> >> many people have an active PGP key... and would they be interested in
> >> converting that to a DID?" -- and the answer seems to be: "Not many"
> >> and "Probably not".
> >>
> >> I think a more likely bootstrap would be SSH keys, because developers
> >> need to use them, but again, the developer population is really small
> >> compared to the user population. If we look at the largest deployment
> >> of DIDs to date, BlueSky, I expect that next to none of those 25M+
> >> people know they're even using a DID (which is where we need to be).
> >>
> >> Just some thoughts... not saying not to do a did:pgp, just noting
> >> we've had some discussions in the past and it didn't seem to go
> >> anywhere the first time around.
> >>
> >> -- manu
> >>
> >> --
> >> Manu Sporny - https://www.linkedin.com/in/manusporny/
> >> Founder/CEO - Digital Bazaar, Inc.
> >> https://www.digitalbazaar.com/
>

Received on Friday, 13 December 2024 16:50:30 UTC