sqlite file format, anyone?

Derek Atkins warlord at MIT.EDU
Sun Jun 29 14:00:12 CDT 2003


Ok, this discussion have outlived it's usefulness.  People have points.
Many of them are wrong, but that's ok. ;)

Any further "points" will be ignored by me unless they are accompanied
by code that implements their points.

Talking about "what's the best database" is pointless.
Talking about "let's start postgres in the background" is pointless.
The developers are going to do what they think is the "right thing".

Note that GnuCash is, primarily, for home users and personal finances.
The embedded database is aimed at that market (and I'm sorry, no matter
what you think or say, Chris, starting postgres in the background does
not count as "embedded".  The user experience should "match" that of
the existing system, and IMHO the database should be housed in a single
file if at all possible.

Also note that this DOES NOT mean dropping support for the existing
postgres database (or its rewrite) for "larger" users.  So, Derek,
your point about business and personal being different is well taken,
but still irrelevant.  Having done most of the implementation, I have
to disagree -- the "small business" is not significantly different
than personal finances.  Perhaps your definition of "small business"
and my definition of "small business" is very different, however
that again is an off-topic disucssion and I suggest it get moved to
/dev/null.

I've got design and implementation to do.

-derek

Derek Neighbors <derek at gnue.org> writes:

> On Sat, 2003-06-28 at 20:02, Matthew Vanecek wrote:
> 
> > I like the libdbi idea, to a point.  Postgresql and other capable
> > databases do provide event notification APIs that are not available in
> > lesser- or barely-DBMS systems such as MySQL.  Those APIs are not
> > available through libdbi, and therefore a way to work around the lack
> > would be required.  Not an impossible task--just something to keep in
> > mind.  There are other multi-user considerations, of course, but those
> > can be enumerated at another time.
> 
> This might be a silly question, but have you considered Firebird?  I
> know that the original Interbase Database from Borland had one of the
> best embedded databases available a few years ago.  I am not certain
> that when they opened the code and Firebird was birthed that they kept
> that embedded side, but I am pretty sure the footprint of Firebird is
> rather tiny for its robust feature set.
> 
> There might be licensing conflicts depending on all the pieces involved
> (i.e. I don't recall the firebird license), but it would be worth
> looking into.
> 
> I still think Chris Browne has some valid points about "faking" an
> embedded postgres.  I think currently the group is just not willing to
> look past the immediate trees to see the forest.  A good deal of this
> stems from the fact that the needs of a "Quicken" replacement is vastly
> different in philosophy than what is necessary for a small business
> accounting system.  Trying to make one source tree use the same
> 'requirements' and 'philosophy' for two vastly different problem domains
> makes things difficult.  This said from the outside looking in....
> 
> 
> -- 
> Derek Neighbors
> GNU Enterprise
> http://www.gnuenterprise.org
> derek at gnue.org
> 
> Was I helpful?  Let others know:
>  http://svcs.affero.net/rm.php?r=dneighbo

-- 
       Derek Atkins, SB '93 MIT EE, SM '95 MIT Media Laboratory
       Member, MIT Student Information Processing Board  (SIPB)
       URL: http://web.mit.edu/warlord/    PP-ASEL-IA     N1NWH
       warlord at MIT.EDU                        PGP key available


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