[afnog] AS-SET naming

[sm+afrinic at elandsys.com]

Dear Mr Kone,

I read your email dated 18 July about AS-SET naming.  Here's an 
example of AS-SET naming:

   $ whois -h whois.afrinic.net "AS-BICS-CUST-AFRINIC:AS329411" | 
grep "members:"
   members:        AS329411

The "parent" (AS-BICS-CUST-AFRINIC) controls the "child" 
(AS329411).  It fits within a tree structure (or hierarchy).  I tried 
generating prefix lists:

   $ bgpq4 -S AFRINIC -b -6 -l UP AS-BICS-CUST-AFRINIC:AS329411
   UP = [
       2c0f:3040::/32,
       2c0f:3040::/36,
       2c0f:3040::/40,
       2c0f:3040::/44,
       2c0f:3040::/48
   ];


   $ bgpq4 -S AFRINIC -b -6 -l UP AS329411
   UP = [
       2c0f:3040::/32,
       2c0f:3040::/36,
       2c0f:3040::/40,
       2c0f:3040::/44,
       2c0f:3040::/48
   ];

The output was the same in both examples.  Here is what routing 
registry software does: 
https://github.com/irrdnet/irrd/pull/413/commits/ec8b08a83f951756ebfc02db6d5763006c44a99b 
The software would display an error for the AS-set naming.  There are 
three options:

   (a) The "as-set" example which I used was probably created before 2021.

   (b) The software which bgpq4 connected to is an old version of irrd.

   (c) The software which bgpq4 connected to is not irrd.

The namespace is currently "flat".  The approach offers 
flexibility.  There are drawbacks though (it's not illustrated in the 
example).  I looked into whether there could be a potential security 
issue because of AS-SET naming, e.g. https://seclists.org/nanog/2022/Aug/236

Regards,
S. Moonesamy