Re: Informix vs. Sybase vs. Oracle vs. (gasp) MS SQL Server

Michael Segel wrote:

> Gee, didn't Oracle have a similar problem a few years back.Of course they
> got their hand slapped and then they went back to
> business as usual.....

	Dunno. Last I heard, sales haven't been too hot for their
	latest version. However, in the latest local version of
	ComputerWorld magazine I've just found these articles -

	"Oracle shift from client/server premature say users"

	and

	"Informix aims at a less-is-more database line."

	Nothing really exciting or noteworthy in either article
	really.

> Oh! Totally true! It all boils down to customer satisfaction.Thats why one
> has to look at the changes Bob F. has implemented.
> Informix has a people problem. This is easier to solve than a technical
> problem.

	Part of the Informix article mentions that Oracle is offering
	a 35% discount to Informix customers to switch over. Then it
	has the usual slanging quotes.

> But hey, as an application developer, all 3 products meet 80% of my clients
> needs, and
> as the *client*/*server* technology goes forward, they will all look the
> same to me :-)

	I think this should be the crux of the issue. Any SQL-oriented
	app should be written to work successfully on any SQL backend.
	Obviously, there are server-based issues that have to be dealt
	with. But its doable, because commercial products do exist.

-am Received on Tue Dec 02 1997 - 00:00:00 CET