pages/design-docs/delete-groups/conclusion.md - homepage - Git at Google

 ---
 title: "Design Doc - Deletion of groups - Conclusion"
 permalink: design-docs/delete-groups-conclusion.html
 hide_sidebar: true
 hide_navtoggle: true
 toc: false
 ---

 # Conclusion

 Deletion of groups is a generally desired feature we'd like to support in
 Gerrit. However, there seem to be two major behaviors/modes depending on host
 admin/owner preferences:
 1) Remove a group without keeping a Git ref to it to reduce the number of Git
 refs on the Gerrit server.
 2) Remove a group but keep its complete audit and add an audit entry for the
 group deletion.

 In core Gerrit, we can't implement 1) without offering 2) by default as existing
 host admins/owners might rely on core Gerrit's audit for groups to keep
 track of all modifications. Enabling traceless group deletion without explicit
 consent from these persons would likely result in negative surprises.

 To save audit log within the core Gerrit implementation, one approach is
 to save all audit records in a new branch called refs/meta/deleted-group or store
 them in a data directory if necessary. The core Gerrit implementation
 already has established structures and functions for manipulating group data, such
 as rename and group creation, which makes it more readable and coherent to include
 the delete group functionality within the core.
 Implementing group deletion as a core feature also offers scalability benefits as
 it requires less maintenance compared to an external plugin. By reusing existing
 core functions and maintaining all group-related operations in one place, the
 system becomes easier to manage in the long run.

 Implementing 2) is more effort, though, and even more so if want to offer 1)
 and 2) both inside of core Gerrit. The proposer of the design wishes to support
 just 1). Hence, we recommend to implement 1) in core Gerrit.
	---
	title: "Design Doc - Deletion of groups - Conclusion"
	permalink: design-docs/delete-groups-conclusion.html
	hide_sidebar: true
	hide_navtoggle: true
	toc: false
	---

	# Conclusion

	Deletion of groups is a generally desired feature we'd like to support in
	Gerrit. However, there seem to be two major behaviors/modes depending on host
	admin/owner preferences:
	1) Remove a group without keeping a Git ref to it to reduce the number of Git
	refs on the Gerrit server.
	2) Remove a group but keep its complete audit and add an audit entry for the
	group deletion.

	In core Gerrit, we can't implement 1) without offering 2) by default as existing
	host admins/owners might rely on core Gerrit's audit for groups to keep
	track of all modifications. Enabling traceless group deletion without explicit
	consent from these persons would likely result in negative surprises.

	To save audit log within the core Gerrit implementation, one approach is
	to save all audit records in a new branch called refs/meta/deleted-group or store
	them in a data directory if necessary. The core Gerrit implementation
	already has established structures and functions for manipulating group data, such
	as rename and group creation, which makes it more readable and coherent to include
	the delete group functionality within the core.
	Implementing group deletion as a core feature also offers scalability benefits as
	it requires less maintenance compared to an external plugin. By reusing existing
	core functions and maintaining all group-related operations in one place, the
	system becomes easier to manage in the long run.

	Implementing 2) is more effort, though, and even more so if want to offer 1)
	and 2) both inside of core Gerrit. The proposer of the design wishes to support
	just 1). Hence, we recommend to implement 1) in core Gerrit.