def authenticate(self, username, password):
        if self.config.get('LDAP_USER_RDN_ATTR') == self.config.get('LDAP_USER_LOGIN_ATTR'):
            # Since the user's RDN is the same as the login field,
            # we can do a direct bind.
            result = self.authenticate_direct_bind(username, password)
        else:
            # We need to search the User's DN to find who the user is (and their DN)
            # so we can try bind with their password.
            result = self.authenticate_search_bind(username, password)

        return result