Re: IBM DB2 serious alternative to Oracle/Informix?

In article <33BBEC44.692F2A8A_at_mindspring.com>, Tim Schaefer <tschaefe_at_mindspring.com> wrote:
>Dag Sunde wrote:
>>
>> You're not seriously suggesting that DB2/NT is a mediocre database engine
>> because of the lack of a "sexy" interface???
 

>No slam against the engine. Interestingly, Informix's IIUG Conference
>will have Mike Saranga, inventor of DB2, now working for Informix, as a
>keynote speaker. So, the engine may be ok, but I maintain the user
>interface is majorly boring. It's ok to use a color besides blue on a
>white background.
>
>:-)

I've seen DB2 criticized for having a steep learning curve, but I've never seen anyone criticize it's color scheme! Do you really think the original poster was interested in that? In any case, there is a new version coming out, called DB2 Universal Database, which will add a lot of graphical tools to supplement (replace?) the current CLI interface, so maybe IBM has been addressing this critical problem.

>> We're talking db-ENGINES, man... Powerpoint...
 

>Well, if IBM is remotely interested in swaying non-DB2 people to DB2 on
>NT, they'd have an uphill battle. First impression with it <is>
>important, and not having an IBM background, I was not favorably
>impressed. This appears to be a product IBM'rs will love, the rest
>will yawn. The terminology and environment is so IBM, it reminds me of
>a 1970's style big-blue software product. It's as arcane I guess to me
>as UNIX would be to MVS people.

If IBM -- which controls the mainframe DB market but doesn't have much of a foothold in the client/server world -- were really interested in swaying non-DB2 people to DB2, their best bet might be to try to buy market share, by selling what is generally acknowledged as a world class database engine at fire sale prices. Hey! According to the original poster, that's exactly what they're doing! If DB2 on Unix and NT really does have a 10 to 1 price advantage over Oracle and Informix (can that possibly be right???) it strikes me as a *much* stronger incentive than a well coordinated color scheme.

-- 
John Brock
jbrock_at_panix.com