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After More Than a Decade, MSN Chat Authentication Is Documented (goo.gl)

Posted by timothy on from the documentation-is-nice dept.

An anonymous reader writes: After MSN Chat closed in 2003, and then again in 2006, some guy has finally documented the authentication system used — over a decade later! Developer Joshua Davison writes by way of explanation: I think it's important to document the challenge we (users, scripters, hackers) faced connecting to MSN Chat, which is the only known 'proper' implementation of IRCX v8.1 at this time. MSN Chat introduced a GateKeeper SASL authentication protocol, which implemented 'GateKeeper' and 'GateKeeperPassport' (not dissimilar to the widely documented NTLM authentication protocol, which was also implemented as NTLM, and NTMLPassport) The GateKeeper Security Support Provider (GKSSP) functioned in two ways; allowing a user to login with a Microsoft Account (Previously known as Microsoft Passport, .NET Passport, Microsoft Passport Network, and Windows Live ID), and also allowed guest authentication for users without, or not willing to use a Microsoft Account. While most users didn't need or want to understand how the protocol worked, there were many of us who did, and many that just preferred to use MSN Chat outside of the browser.

27 comments

  1. itâ(TM)s? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Can the new owners of Slashdot PLEASE fix this unicode/UTF-8/whatever problem? This is ridiculous.

    1. Re: itâ(TM)s? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      Look, the new owners just took over and they can only do one thing at a time. They've already fired most of the editorial staff, turned timothy's account into a bot, and upped the number of garbage posts that make it to the front page. These things take time.

    2. Re: itâ(TM)s? by arglebargle_xiv · · Score: 1

      Exactly. Once the upgrade to the HURD is finished, then they'll address that silly i18n thing.

    3. Re: itâ(TM)s? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What's the alternative to Slashdot these days?

    4. Re: itâ(TM)s? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      SoylentNews

  2. Linux Explain by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Linux is contract of LINus and UniX = LINUX, by Linus Torvald.

  3. Momentous news by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I can die a happy now that I know an event of such a paramount importance has finally happened.

  4. Friends don't let friends... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ...add value to a Microsoft platform.

  5. IMs by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    It's a pity these days that popular IMs have become completely propriety and do not work with open-source programs such as pidgin. MSN chat was quite nice but it's replacement skype is too bloated and resource hog for a simple chatting. Google chat was also quite nice until they turned it into hangouts and it also stopped working with open-source programs.

    1. Re:IMs by U2xhc2hkb3QgU3Vja3M · · Score: 2

      I use Apple's Messages program to talk to friends on Mac/iPad/iPhone and also on other friends who use Google Talk on other platforms.

      Isn't it weird that Apple supports more IM platforms than Microsoft and Google?

    2. Re:IMs by kb7oeb · · Score: 1

      Hangouts still works with pidgin

    3. Re:IMs by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      open source programs can layer encryption above the transport layer making your chats truly private.

      No wonder this was stopped and all services force their *backdoored* client.

    4. Re:IMs by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Seeing as they paid well to license the tech from those companies in a way libpurple devs never could? No, its not that weird at all.

    5. Re:IMs by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      OP here, I've got it work now.

    6. Re:IMs by U2xhc2hkb3QgU3Vja3M · · Score: 1, Interesting

      Who said anything about "libpurple"? I'm asking why Google and Microsoft don't support other protocols, compared to Apple who people keep saying are a "closed garden".

  6. I can finally by The-Ixian · · Score: 3, Interesting

    finish my MSN chat client... *doh*

    Seriously though, why in the crap did MS kill MSN messenger? It was actually pretty popular and it worked well. It was the only reason I kept an active Hotmail account for many years (now the MSA useful again with Windows 8/10 and Windows Phone).

    Skype chat is just horrid in comparison...

    I have used Trillian for years and continue to use it to interface with FB, AIM and GTalk.

    --
    My eyes reflect the stars and a smile lights up my face.
    1. Re:I can finally by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The instant they updated it to MSN 7, I dropped it.

      MSN 7 was absolutely awful in every sense of the word.
      No add-on programs for it could fix that piece of crap.
      I think a lot of others felt the same since many people slowly vanished from it.

      Then things just got worse and worse from there.
      They also killed off MSN Spaces around that time instead of turning it in to a social network, like they should have.
      There were so many retarded UI decisions by the MSN team I wonder if they were legally retarded. Seriously.
        In fact, it seems to be an issue with most of Microsoft. Ass backwards UIs and a stupid amount of overly-defensive blog-posts on why they made it.
      The bullshit over that awful Ribbon UI is the best example of this. The amount of SPIN they put on their OWN research which blatantly showed nobody liked or used Ribbon over other methods of interacting with programs. Jesus christ. Then out came Metro as well.
      Wherever they got these stupid UI developers from, they should nuke the city just to be sure they don't spread elsewhere like the cancer they are.

      By then, Facebook was already gaining momentum and the beginning of the end was in full swing.
      Then smartphones were right around the corner.

    2. Re:I can finally by UnknownSoldier · · Score: 1

      > Seriously though, why in the crap did MS kill MSN messenger?

      Apparently they had 8 billion other reasons.

      Microsoft has a long history of buying tech. By the time they get version 3 fixed, they are chasing some other fad.

    3. Re:I can finally by TubeSteak · · Score: 1

      I'd be interested in how you have GTalk working on Trillian.

      For the life of me I can't convince it to connect.

      --
      [Fuck Beta]
      o0t!
    4. Re:I can finally by Blaskowicz · · Score: 1

      The instant MS updated to Windows Media Player 7, I decided to ignore it and continue to use Windows Media Player 6 (before XP at least, it was still the lightweight "built-in" one, descendant from a useless little player in Windows 3.1). Later, I used Media Player Classic instead (scrollwheel support yay!). Later still VLC got a better UI and everyone was using it.

      I didn't have to give much of a thought about WMP7, and it was the same about MSN Messenger 7.
      My favorite replacement software was aMSN, it worked and looked exactly the same in Solaris, Win 9x, XP, and Linux as if it were based on Java or Flash, but not needing those either!
      It ran on Tcl/Tk which afaik allows a decent GUI on top of a lousy scripting language. Ran well enough though not the least buggy software on Earth. Loved it. Posthumous thanks to the project.

      Now the choice is between Skype, which doesn't run without Skype, or Facebook with a real name policy and that prides itself on being a spying platform. So, fuck it!
      IM is dead.

      Thanksfully the costs of cell phone voice and SMS plumetted (easily by a factor of 10x or 20x) since the good old IM days. Also in the rats's nest of malware and computer attacks the Internet has been, MSN chat would likely not have been sustainable. It would be a constant mess of accounts stealing, eavesdropping, impersonating etc.
      Too bad. IM is dead as far as I'm concerned, except when using some ad hoc P2P IM software or a private encrypted IRC server etc. among a small circle of people.

  7. Enough with the URL shorteners ... by gstoddart · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Look, seriously this isn't fucking Twitter ... stop using bloody URL shorteners ... https://goo.gl/uLqxCT

    If you can't post a proper link, don't publish the damned story.

    Why do we keep acting like we're supposed to trust third parties to know where we're going or to not want to monetize this fact?

    Oh, wait, between this and the fact that the summary has unicode artifacts, somehow I must be assuming timothy know how to be an "editor" ... what a quaint notion.

    --
    Lost at C:>. Found at C.
  8. Alt Headline by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    9 Years After MSN Chat Died Painfully

  9. Uh... what? by wonkey_monkey · · Score: 1

    After MSN Chat closed in 2003, and then again in 2006, some guy has finally documented the authentication system used — over a decade later!

    Uh, what? "Some guy" documented it twice?

    Or did MSN Chat close twice?

    --
    systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
  10. A/S/L? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    cam?

  11. Finally found some free time to document by kamaaina · · Score: 1

    After years of coding.

  12. Obligatory XKCD link by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    MSN Chat wouldn't happen to be this?