[db-wg] RIPE Database: Cleaning-up Organisation Names in "descr:"

Hi Job

We have been in this situation many times in the past where an attribute 
has been deprecated or its value has been suspect for some reason.

What we did in the past was to make the suspect/deprecated attribute 
into a "remarks:" attribute. This addresses both concerns raised in 
response to your discussion in this case. The old value is still there 
but it is clear it is not a reliable description. Those who want to keep 
that value can simply remove the "remarks:" tag. Those who don't want it 
can delete the attribute. After maybe 6 months you can do a final 
cleanup and remove any old value that has been left as a "remarks:".

cheers
denis

On 10/05/2016 21:56, Job Snijders wrote:
> Dear Tim, RIPE NCC, Working-Group,
>
> On Thu, Apr 28, 2016 at 05:11:02PM +0200, Tim Bruijnzeels wrote:
>> If we perform the clean-up that was proposed your organisation name
>> will be removed from "descr:" in your resource objects. But note that
>> this *only* applies to 'top-level' objects: i.e. allocations or
>> assignments you received from the RIPE NCC - not e.g. assignments done
>> under a PA allocation. And we only perform the clean-up if the
>> "descr:" exactly matches the organisation name - that RIPE NCC was
>> enforcing.
>>
>> You can already update the "descr:" for assignments (PI and ASN) you
>> received. If you change the "descr:" to something other than the
>> organisation name they will not be touched.
>>
>> Until now it has not been possible to update "descr:" for allocation
>> objects. So if we would run the clean-up today that would mean that
>> all allocation objects end up with no "descr:" attributes. You would
>> however still be able to find your objects, because they have a
>> reference to your organisation object (and your organisation object
>> has your organisation name).
>>
>> We are currently working on deprecating the object editors, so you
>> will be able to edit the "descr:" attribute for allocations within a
>> few weeks from now. After this work is done, you will be able to
>> update your "descr:" of allocation objects as well.
>>
>> As mentioned earlier the clean-up was reverted and has been postponed.
>> We can run it again on 9 May, but only if the working group co-chairs
>> call consensus. We can also postpone the clean-up until after the
>> object editors are deprecated and people have had a chance to update
>> the "descr:" on their allocation objects. We can also cancel the
>> clean-up if the working group feels this is better.
>
> After reviewing the contributions made regarding this topic, we see no
> reason not to proceed with the 'descr:' cleanup. RIPE NCC, please
> schedule a window in which the clean-up will be done.
>
> Some have argued on this mailing list "leave my data alone" - however,
> since RIPE NCC Registration Services has been enforcing the content of
> this attribute, it was never 'ours' to begin with. By doing this
> clean-up we have the equivalent of someone relinquishing control and
> taking their ball home. Various people have expressed their concern that
> by not cleaning up the existing (enforced) "descr:' lines, the data
> become stale over time and thus deteriorate the quality of the database.
> This one-off clean-up addresses that concern.
>
> Overloading the "descr:" attribute to forcibly contain the proper legal
> name has always been considered a temporary hack. After this clean-up
> everyone is free to put in the "descr:" attribute whatever they want.
>
> Kind regards,
>
> Job
> DB-WG Co-chair
>