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Now that host-meta has been standardized in RFC 6415, will Stack Exchange implement WebFinger support for their OpenID login? It's a draft at the IETF now.

That way I wouldn't need to type in my OpenID URL anymore, but could simply use my e-mail when logging in, and the OpenID would be discovered automatically.

users didn't want or were to be confused by email-like identifiers.

It's actually my e-mail address, so there is nothing to confuse.

How would this benefit people that don't have control over their own e-mail domain (e.g. gmail/yahoo/msn)?

Google and Yahoo already support it:

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  • As an OpenID consumer or provider? And wouldn't all consumers need to support this then, to avoid confusion? Like: how would you know when to use your email address, and when to use an OpenID URL? (Actually, I favor typing a URL with some dots over typing an email address with a Shift-2, uh, @-character. But then not everybody can choose their own OpenID URL. And true, some consumers need me to type the http:// too, which I dislike.)
    – Arjan
    Commented Dec 28, 2011 at 9:51
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    First as consumer, because it makes the stack overflow login process easier for me. All OpenID consumers supporting webfinger would be ideal, yes.
    – cweiske
    Commented Dec 28, 2011 at 9:55
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    See update: host-meta is an official RFC now.
    – cweiske
    Commented Dec 28, 2011 at 11:50
  • It's funny because on the original Yadis/OpenID mailing list it was endlessly asserted that users didn't want or were to be confused by email-like identifiers. And this is just a new kludge upon the homepage address verification scheme that OpenID actually is. (Slightly better than Mozillas zero-privacy BrowserID though). -- From SOs standpoint it might be relevant if this simplification undermines the barrier of entry for technic-illiterate posters. (OpenID was once portrayed as quality filter though there's a strong urge for usability.)
    – mario
    Commented Dec 29, 2011 at 0:08
  • How would this benefit people that don't have control over their own e-mail domain (e.g. gmail/yahoo/msn)? IOW, this won't work unless the metadata can actually be found. I guess it could be silently supported, but I'm not sure about adopted and advertised.
    – user50049
    Commented Feb 15, 2012 at 13:15
  • Or are you more suggesting that Stack Exchange (as an OpenID provider) should support it? The protocol itself is extremely simple.
    – user50049
    Commented Feb 15, 2012 at 13:17
  • Both if possible :)
    – cweiske
    Commented Feb 15, 2012 at 17:40

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