[ Apologies for duplicate mails ] Dear colleagues, To your attention the proposal to remove "RIPE Document" status from RIPE Database documents. Introduction ------------ Currently all the RIPE Database documents are classed as official RIPE Documents. This means that any changes to the documents must be made via a formal, and sometimes lengthy, procedure. As a result, changes are grouped and updates to the documents are staged periodically, meaning that the documents are often out of date in some way. Based on discussions at RIPE 54, the RIPE NCC is currently finalising eight proposals to send to the community. Each of these will require changes to the database documentation. There are also a number of other issues still to be discussed by the Data Protection Task Force, any of which may result in further proposals, as well as software or procedure changes, which may require further changes to the documentation. To keep the documents up to date throughout this process will require almost monthly releases, which is not possible under the current scheme. Proposal -------- The documents listed below [1] do not define any RIPE policies. These documents explain how the database software applies policy that is defined in other formal RIPE Policy Documents and RFCs. The RIPE Database Update Reference Manual [1], for example, explains how the database software applies the route authentication process, but the process itself is defined in other official documents. We propose to remove the official RIPE Document status on the documents listed below [1]. This will allow us to more frequently modify these documents and keep them in line with developments as they occur. All documents will remain available to users on the RIPE website in the same format as they are currently presented. References ---------- [1] List of documents: * RIPE Database Query Reference Manual (ripe-401) * RIPE Database Update Reference Manual (ripe-252 and ripe-draft) * RIPE Database User Manual: Getting Started (ripe-402) -- Katie Petrusha Database Department RIPE NCC