Re: PEAR DB 1.6.0 has been released - now OT if not originally

Sybrand Bakker <gooiditweg_at_sybrandb.demon.nl> writes:

>>Those posting announcements of free software they have developed for
>>use with Oracle, which they develop without payment, are no more
>>driven by ulterior commercial motives than you or any other poster.

>The problem with them is the *sole reason* of their presence is
>promoting their own products. They usually only reply when their
>product can be used.

This can be acceptable, if the program is directly relevant to Oracle and is a workable answer to a problem someone has posted. (Subject to the explicit ban on commercial or advertising content.)

It would be unacceptable if an individual had a canned answer for every question 'use the wonderful program X' and posted it constantly whether applicable or not. But this hasn't happened and I don't see why it would be likely to - if the individual makes no money from users of the program then he would have no incentive to do this.

I think the normal tests of whether an article is on-topic and helpful can be applied. A poster who followed up to every question with the advice to set pctincrease=103 on all tables would be just as much a nuisance (and just as unlikely to exist in practice).

>Also they usually don't guarantee the 'free software' will remain
>free, or they don't offer the 'free software' to sell of other
>non-free products.

I agree in this case the article would be spam. I am talking only about software that is free for certain, with a licence to distribute modified or unmodified copies, and includes the source code.

>The sole reason to post those announcements, in the era of people
>being incapable of finding out how to download Oracle products, is
>those people don't have to exercise any effort to find 'free
>software'

Many of the replies on this group could be found by searching the various Oracle websites or documentation, or in Oracle-related books. One of the purposes of a newsgroup is to bring together information that could be found elsewhere. Occasional, non-marketspeak announcements of projects related to Oracle - whether they be free software, or a website with useful documentation and hints, or the creation of a new mailing list - are just as useful as other postings, if they are within the charter of the group.

-- 
Ed Avis <ed_at_membled.com>