[cap-talk] Webkeys vs. the web

[Karp, Alan H]

Chip Morningstar wrote:
> 
> Perhaps we are looking at different problem definitions here, but I see a huge,
> gigantic hassle.  In essence it's having to go through the "forgot my password"
> email cycle every time I want to click on the link that says "edit this page".
> No way is that going to fly.
>
It seems natural to use webkeys as links on a web page, and maybe it would be if the world would start over.  Unfortunately, people have been trained to treat URLs in a particular way that is incompatible with the way webkeys work. 

I have built one UI based on webkeys and mocked up two others.  The only webkey the user sees in any of them is the root authority.  (Actually, the user does see another webkey in SCoopFS, but that's something we need to fix.)  Once they're looking at the UI, all they see are buttons and forms.  The webkeys are manipulated in the background.  Want to delegate an authority?  Click the delegate button.  Want to revoke an authority?  Click the Manage button, select what you want to revoke from a list, and click OK.  The trick is to make the users think they're navigating with buttons rather than URLs.

________________________
Alan Karp
Principal Scientist
Virus Safe Computing Initiative
Hewlett-Packard Laboratories
1501 Page Mill Road
Palo Alto, CA 94304
(650) 857-3967, fax (650) 857-7029
http://www.hpl.hp.com/personal/Alan_Karp