RIPE and RIPE NCC

If I have sent you a link to this page, either privately or on a group, please read carefully.

If you have stumbled upon this page while browsing my website, maybe there is something you can learn from it.

When you mention "RIPE" in a conversation, that term is ambiguous. People use it to identify both "RIPE" and "RIPE NCC" all the time, but in reality, they are two distinct entities.

RIPE

• Identifies the community. It does not exist on paper, and it's composed of all the people taking part in discussions on the mailing lists and working groups;
• It is composed of mostly Mailing lists and working groups;
• Has is no membership fee;
• Is composed of volunteers.

RIPE NCC

• Identifies the organisation, a Dutch membership association based in Amsterdam;
• It has members called LIRs;
• Has membership fees;
• Has a "General Meeting" happening along RIPE Meetings;
• Has employees and a board.

These are just some of the differences between the two. There is more to say about the different parts composing RIPE and RIPE NCC, and you can find a more detailed description here.

I hope this will help you in understanding when to use "RIPE" and when to use either "RIPE NCC" or just "NCC" to make it clear for the other people in the conversation which one you are referring to.