diff --git a/swh/lister/core/lister_transports.py b/swh/lister/core/lister_transports.py
--- a/swh/lister/core/lister_transports.py
+++ b/swh/lister/core/lister_transports.py
@@ -7,7 +7,6 @@
 from datetime import datetime
 from email.utils import parsedate
 from pprint import pformat
-from xmlrpc import client
 
 import requests
 import xmltodict
@@ -21,62 +20,6 @@
 from .lister_base import FetchError
 
 
-class ListerXMLRPCTransport(abc.ABC):
-    """Use the xmlrpc library for making Lister endpoint requests.
-
-    To be used in conjunction with SWHListerBase or a subclass of it.
-    """
-    SERVER = AbstractAttribute('string containing the server to contact for '
-                               'information')
-
-    def __init__(self):
-        self.lister_version = __version__
-
-    def get_client(self, path):
-        """Initialize client to query for result
-
-        """
-        return client.ServerProxy(path)
-
-    def request_uri(self, _):
-        """Same uri called once
-
-        """
-        return self.SERVER
-
-    def request_params(self, identifier):
-        """Cannot pass any parameters to query to the xmlrpc client so cannot
-           even pass our user-agent specifics.
-
-        """
-        return {}
-
-    def transport_quota_check(self, response):
-        """No rate limit dealing explained.
-
-        """
-        return False, 0
-
-    def transport_request(self, identifier):
-        """Implements SWHListerBase.transport_request
-
-        """
-        path = self.request_uri(identifier)
-        try:
-            return self.get_client(path)
-        except Exception as e:
-            raise FetchError(e)
-
-    def transport_response_to_string(self, response):
-        """Implements SWHListerBase.transport_response_to_string for XMLRPC
-           given responses.
-
-        """
-        s = pformat(self.SERVER)
-        s += '\n#\n' + pformat(response)  # Note: will potentially be big
-        return s
-
-
 class SWHListerHttpTransport(abc.ABC):
     """Use the Requests library for making Lister endpoint requests.
 
diff --git a/swh/lister/core/models.py b/swh/lister/core/models.py
--- a/swh/lister/core/models.py
+++ b/swh/lister/core/models.py
@@ -36,29 +36,9 @@
     task_id = Column(Integer)
     origin_id = Column(Integer)
 
-    def __init__(self, uid=None, name=None, full_name=None,
-                 html_url=None, origin_url=None, origin_type=None,
-                 description=None, task_id=None, origin_id=None):
-        self.uid = uid
-        self.last_seen = datetime.now()
-
-        if name is not None:
-            self.name = name
-        if full_name is not None:
-            self.full_name = full_name
-        if html_url is not None:
-            self.html_url = html_url
-        if origin_url is not None:
-            self.origin_url = origin_url
-        if origin_type is not None:
-            self.origin_type = origin_type
-        if description is not None:
-            self.description = description
-
-        if task_id is not None:
-            self.task_id = task_id
-        if origin_id is not None:
-            self.origin_id = origin_id
+    def __init__(self, **kw):
+        kw['last_seen'] = datetime.now()
+        super().__init__(**kw)
 
 
 class IndexingModelBase(ModelBase, metaclass=ABCSQLMeta):
@@ -68,15 +48,3 @@
     # The value used for sorting, segmenting, or api query paging,
     # because uids aren't always sequential.
     indexable = AbstractAttribute('Column(<indexable_type>, index=True)')
-
-    def __init__(self, uid=None, name=None, full_name=None,
-                 html_url=None, origin_url=None, origin_type=None,
-                 description=None, task_id=None, origin_id=None,
-                 indexable=None):
-        super().__init__(
-            uid=uid, name=name, full_name=full_name, html_url=html_url,
-            origin_url=origin_url, origin_type=origin_type,
-            description=description, task_id=task_id, origin_id=origin_id)
-
-        if indexable is not None:
-            self.indexable = indexable
diff --git a/swh/lister/github/models.py b/swh/lister/github/models.py
--- a/swh/lister/github/models.py
+++ b/swh/lister/github/models.py
@@ -13,8 +13,4 @@
 
     uid = Column(Integer, primary_key=True)
     indexable = Column(Integer, index=True)
-    fork = Column(Boolean)
-
-    def __init__(self, *args, **kwargs):
-        self.fork = kwargs.pop('fork', False)
-        super().__init__(*args, **kwargs)
+    fork = Column(Boolean, default=False)
diff --git a/swh/lister/gitlab/models.py b/swh/lister/gitlab/models.py
--- a/swh/lister/gitlab/models.py
+++ b/swh/lister/gitlab/models.py
@@ -15,14 +15,3 @@
 
     uid = Column(String, primary_key=True)
     instance = Column(String, index=True)
-
-    def __init__(self, uid=None, indexable=None, name=None,
-                 full_name=None, html_url=None, origin_url=None,
-                 origin_type=None, description=None, task_id=None,
-                 origin_id=None, instance=None):
-        super().__init__(uid=uid, name=name,
-                         full_name=full_name, html_url=html_url,
-                         origin_url=origin_url, origin_type=origin_type,
-                         description=description, task_id=task_id,
-                         origin_id=origin_id)
-        self.instance = instance