Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!gatech!cwjcc!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!ucbvax!mtxinu!sybase!phobos!forrest From: forrest@phobos.sybase.com (Jon Forrest) Newsgroups: comp.databases Subject: Re: DB engine embedded in the OS? (long) Message-ID: <5774@sybase.sybase.com> Date: 27 Aug 89 04:24:50 GMT References: <8951@blia.BLI.COM> <5743@sybase.sybase.com> <8976@blia.BLI.COM> Sender: news@sybase.sybase.com Reply-To: forrest@phobos.UUCP (Jon Forrest) Distribution: comp Organization: Sybase, Inc. Lines: 49 In article <8976@blia.BLI.COM> miket@blia.BLI.COM (Mike Tossy) writes: > >I thank Jon Forrest for his kind words about the people at ShareBase. We >miss you Jon and you're welcome to come back if you-know-who goes >belly up! :-) > Thanks Mike but would there be anybody left? >(Unfortunately) In article <5743@sybase.sybase.com>, >forrest@phobos.sybase.com (Jon Forrest) also writes: > [.....various statements about Sybase vs. Britton Lee....] I don't unfortunately have any specific benchmarks to back up my feelings but deep in my heart I know they're right. But, in any case, one thing that should be obvious is that as hardware technology changes our (Sybase's) marginal costs to keep up are much less than yours. In other words, it costs less and takes less time for us to make our stuff run on X (where X is the latest greatest chip or processor) than for you. This means that even if it is true today that the 8000 is "faster" than our stuff on a platform of similiar cost, it won't be true for long. I bet that few RDBMS acquisition decisions are made that only consider the short term benefits that you might be able to claim with the 8000. Also, as an ex computer systems manager, the thought of yet another hardware manufactorer to have to deal with, especially one whose financials haven't been all that great for the last couple of years, would make me feel uneasy. One area where Britton Lee is better than Sybase is in your multi protocol support. The fact that the IDM (I can't get used to the new names) can simultaneously talk to hosts running TCP/IP, DECNET, XNS, RS-232, IEEE, IBM Channel, and probably others I don't know about is a real plus for you and is something I'm surprised hasn't been stressed more in Britton Lee's marketing. Sybase is aware of this weakness and will have a solution in the future. As far as I can see, the only hope for Britton Lee is if you stop making hardware and port your wonderful software to off the shelf hardware. (Needless, but maybe necessary, to say, all this is my personal opinion and is in no way an official statement of Sybase policy). Jon Forrest forrest@sybase.com {pacbell,sun,{uunet,ucbvax}!mtxinu}!sybase!forrest 415-596-3422