[db-wg] "changed:" attribute [was: The New "organisation object" Proposal]

[Engin Gunduz <]

Good morning,

On 2003-09-06 11:49:59 +0200, Ulrich Kiermayr wrote:
> Hi *,
> 
> >organisation: ORG-AA11-RIPE
> >[...]
> >org-type:     LIR
> >mnt-by:       RIPE-NCC-HM-MNT
> >mnt-ref:      LIR-MNT
> >mnt-ref:      RIPE-NCC-HM-MNT
> >
> >Here, we have "mnt-ref:  RIPE-NCC-HM-MNT" because RIPE NCC
> >hostmaster will need to add references to this organisation
> >object when creating/modifying allocation inetnums and aut-nums.
> 
> Related to this Point from an experience I had this week: In this 
> context it would also be worth rethinking the behaviour of changed:

Just FYI,
In the past there has been some proposals and attempts to change
the "changed:" attribute, like making it an auto-generated attribute,
or getting rid of it altogether. However, they were all turned down,
sometimes because the users have found another use of the attribute
beyond the intended use, and sometimes because of privacy issues.

As it stands now, "changed:" attributes can be deleted/added to objects
on demand, with a few restrictions. However, the user is not forced by 
the whois software to add a new "changed:" attribute when it is modified. 
Thus, the last "changed:" attribute may not actually reflect the date it 
has been last changed. This is misleading.

Secondly, the query users do not really know what "changed:" attribute
means. Normally the e-mail box in these attributes specify who
performed the changes to the objects, and they are not necessarily
responsible for the resources that the objects represent. For example,
the email addresses in the "changed:" attributes of an inetnum object
are not necessarily the email addresses of the network administrator, so
they should not be used to report abuse. However most users and automated
tools pick anything that resembles an email address in the whois query
result and send them abuse complaints. 

Regards,

> I wanted to add a mnt-irt to our inet6num, so I added that line to the 
> object, signed it and sent it tothe mostmasters. Ingrid came back to me 
> with the request to add the appropriate changed-line, to reflect the 
> changed line and resign/submit it.
> 
> I have no idea for a solution (apart from documenting the fact somewhere).
> 
> lG uk
> -- 
> Ulrich Kiermayr         Zentraler Informatikdienst der Universitaet Wien
> Network/Security              Universitaetsstrasse 7, 1010 Wien, Austria
> 
> eMail:   ulrich.kiermayr@localhost          Tel: (+43 1) 4277 / 14104
>                                                Fax: (+43 1) 4277 /  9140

-- 
Engin Gunduz
RIPE NCC Database Group