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# Implementing open standards is too hard
- URL: https://werd.io/implementing-open-standards-is-too-hard/
- Published: 2009-02-18T12:14:37.000Z
- Updated: 2025-06-12T11:00:57.000Z
- Author: Ben Werdmuller
- Tags: Linklog, #ben-684a32da145d7d001be71dae, Web, joseph smarr, oauth, open stack, programming, #Migrated-1749693130536, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2025-06-11 21:52

*\[..\] the plain truth is this: it's empirically way too painful still for first-time OAuth developers to get their code working, and despite the fact that OAuth is a standard, the empirical "it-just-works-rate" is way too low.*

[Joseph Smarr: Implementing OAuth is still too hard... but it doesn't have to be](http://josephsmarr.com/2009/02/17/implementing-oauth-is-still-too-hard-but-it-doesnt-have-to-be/).

This isn't just true of OAuth; try writing an OpenID client or server from scratch. The same probably holds for every part of the open stack. Open doesn't just mean that anybody can use a format or API; it also has to mean that it's *accessible*. Coding barriers are just a different sort of closed.

I think what Joseph suggests here is absolutely right, and he's doing a good thing to start the conversation rolling.