[db-wg] mntner with misleading primary key

Dear Tom,

On Wed, Jul 1, 2020, at 16:16, Tom Hill via db-wg wrote:
> Unless of course, parsing/filtering before insertion (thus augmenting
> the database's table natural design restrictions) is not something Good
> To Do. Database design definitely isn't my primary skill.
> 
> Saying that, I have long been idly frustrated by the way that mntners
> seemingly have a reversible, unwritten standard of 'MNT-[random]' or
> '[random]-MNT'. I can't be the only one.

It is possible to change this, but it'll take some time: extensive research to figure out a path which causes the least disruption to the fewest amount of people. Ideally only a handful of people have to change their "mntner:" primary key.

I think a mandatory "-MNT" or "MNT-" or "-MAINT" is helpful because the maintainers primary key string does pop up from time to time without any context, and this can lead to confusion. See https://seclists.org/nanog/2020/Jan/650 for a fun story about how one person's email error code is another person's BGP autonomous system reference. :-)

It starts with a volunteer who does some digging in the data to see if a migration path can be constructed or not. A conclusion may be that it is too hard, but we don't know yet. Are you up for it? :)

Kind regards,

Job