If we’re to build personal clouds supported by a cloud operating system (COS), then we need to understand the key services that the COS would provide to the user. Operating systems are not monolithic pieces of software, but rather interlocking collections of services. One of the most important things to figure out is how a cloud OS can mediate an integrated experience with respect to authorized access to distributed online resources.

The concept of identity is foundational in modern operating systems. In Linux, for example, user IDs (uid) and group IDs (gid) are used by the kernel to determine file and device access as well as process ownership and control. User names and passwords are just the means of reliably setting the user ID so that the kernel can determine access levels. Read more here…