[cap-talk] Definition of Authentication on wiki.erights.org

[Karp, Alan H]

Matej Kosik wrote:
> 
> So I think I was wrong when I said that principals are always special
> cases of subjects. Sometimes yes, otherwise no.
>
That's not the standard usage.  A subject, acting on behalf of a principal, invokes an object.  Usually, a principal is a person, but it can be a NPE (non-person entity, dontcha just love that military talk?)  In terms we use on this list, a principal is represented in the computer by a special subject called a power box.

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Alan Karp
Principal Scientist
Virus Safe Computing Initiative
Hewlett-Packard Laboratories
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