[LINK] Linux sheds its amateur image

[Howard Lowndes]

Craig Sanders wrote:
> On Tue, Mar 14, 2006 at 09:03:47AM +1100, Bernard Robertson-Dunn wrote:
> 
>>Linux sheds its amateur image
>>Eric Wilson
>>MARCH 14, 2006
>>The Australian
>>http://australianit.news.com.au/articles/0,7204,18421886%5E15397%5E%5Enbv%5E,00.html
>>
>>THE stereotype of free open-source software running on recycled hardware is
>>fast disappearing as businesses choose it over proprietary systems.
>>
>>The venerable LAMP stack - a Linux operating system, Apache Web server, MySQL
>>database and the PHP programming language - [...]
> 
> 
> unfortunately, O'Reilly jumped on the wrong bandwagon by pushing MySQL
> (a toy database whose only real advantage - speed - disappears as soon
> as you use any of the tacked-on afterthought features expected of a real
> database, like transactions, foreign keys, views, stored procedures,
> triggers) and PHP (aka "a minimalist subset of perl for dummies, without
> CPAN or anything like it").
> 
> "LAMP" makes a better acronym, but "LAPP" (Linux, Apache, Perl,
> Postgresql) uses much better software.

...even at the command line level MySQL doesn't hold a lamp (pun 
intended) up to PostgreSQL.  I've worked with both and PGSQL is still my 
favourite.

> 
> 
> actually, PHP isn't that bad - but anyone capable of programming in PHP
> is also capable of programming in Perl (the syntax is quite similar)
> and that gives access to the thousands of perl libraries and modules in
> CPAN (the Comprehensive Perl Archive Network)....and tools like embperl
> or HTML::Mason give the ability to embed program code directly in web
> pages, which is the only really nice feature of PHP.

...but there is so much in Perl that is not relevant in web authoring, 
and I find that the server side execution performance is miserable 
compared to PHP.

> 
> 
> 
>>[...]
>>SugarCRM can be downloaded free of charge, with the commercial
>>open-source vendor supplying support and extra features to
>>subscribers.
>>
>>The subscribers have access to the source code and the extra features,
>>but are not permitted to distribute it.
> 
> 
> in that case, it's NOT Open Source. the definition of Open Source
> requires that it be licensed so that anyone is permitted to redistribute
> the source code. if they can't do that, then it does not qualify as open
> source.
> 
> 
> 
> 
>>Sugar's biggest deal is with US tax consultants BDO Seidman - a
>>9000seat deployment to be rolled out over the next two years - with
>>data stored in a MySQL open-source database.
> 
> 
> i find it incredible that ANYONE would choose to store financial
> data in a toy like mysql. the developers still don't even understand
> the importance of ACID-compliance....they dismiss the concept as an
> unneccessary frivol rather than the basis of database reliability,
> and pretend that certain features that really MUST be implemented in
> the database backend (such as transactions, referential integrity,
> constraints) can be reliably emulated in the front-end (the application
> itself).
> 
> (yes, i know mysql has some of these things now, as optional features.
> they're tacked-on afterthoughts, and poorly implemented for the most
> part, when they should have been in the design from the beginning. with
> the final result being that mysql is still a toy but not even a very
> fast toy any more - just a slow toy pretending to be a real db)
> 
> mysql is OK for non-critical data, especially if if it is read-mostly
> (i.e. very few writes and lots of reads - mysql's much-touted and
> greatly exaggerated speed advantage disappears when the usage pattern
> includes more than a tiny percentage of writes)....e.g. an address book.
> but it can not be trusted for anything important.
> 
> the one thing that mysql does vastly better than postgresql (and other
> open source real databases) is marketing and self-promotion.

...mmmm,  reminds me of a large proprietary software company...
> 
> 
> craig
> 

-- 
Howard.
LANNet Computing Associates - Your Linux people <http://lannetlinux.com>
When you want a computer system that works, just choose Linux;
When you want a computer system that works, just, choose Microsoft.
-- 
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