Path: utzoo!utgpu!watmath!clyde!att!osu-cis!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!rutgers!deimos!uxc!tank!mimsy!haven!vrdxhq!daitc!jkrueger@daitc.daitc.mil
From: jkrueger@daitc.daitc.mil (Jonathan Krueger)
Newsgroups: comp.databases
Subject: Re: ORACLE on MAC
Message-ID: <261@daitc.daitc.mil>
Date: 12 Dec 88 18:08:08 GMT
References: <505@oracle.UUCP>
Sender: jkrueger@daitc.daitc.mil
Reply-To: jkrueger@daitc.daitc.mil (Jonathan Krueger)
Organization: Defense Applied Information Technology Center
Lines: 58
In-reply-to: blinder@oracle.uucp (Ben Linder)

In article <505@oracle.UUCP>, blinder@oracle (Ben Linder) writes:
>I stated FACTS.

	"I am currently using Oracle on the Macintosh,
	draft production version."
	"it has a hypertalk interface"

are statements of fact.  Of course, you haven't specified or described
the interface.  It might be 680x0 assembler.  You have left us in the
dark as to that particular fact.

	"it has the strengths of the Oracle Database Kernel"
	"it has Oracle's networking capabilities"

are clauses missing a term: what are those strengths and capabilities?
You haven't specified them.  You might find people don't agree on what
constitutes Oracle's good points.  Therefore without relevant
additional information, these are null statements.

	"It is a very solid beta"
	"the production dates are very near"
	"it is a GREAT and unusual product"
	"I love it"

are opinions, presumably yours.  Some could be stated as facts: what
are the production dates?  Some are judgements at best: how solid is a
very solid beta?  Compared to what?  In whose judgement?  And some are
merely opinions: if you believe a product to be great you're certainly
entitled to, but statements to this effect are opinions, not facts.

	"[the hypertalk interface] brings a whole new object-oriented
	approach to things."

Were "things", "approach", or "object-oriented" better defined, this
might be a statement of fact, presumably false.  As it is, it's
untestable: who's to say what constitutes "a whole new approach"?
Therefore this is also an opinion.

	"At COMDEX, Oracle demo'd a MAC hypercard application accessing
	databases on the MAC, XENIX, vax VMS, and SUN."

is a statement of fact similar to the above regarding "interface".  In
this statement the vague word is "accessing".  Omitted were such
relevant facts as: what was the access? was it concurrent?  did it
allow updates?  One "access" that makes this statement true would be
file copy and data loading.  Certainly more flexible access is
implied, but it is not stated.

	"Support for 3270 and LU6.2 SQL*NET is also coming."

is an opinion.  If you cared to provide a date and announce a product,
it would be a statement of fact similar to the above: the vague word
is "support".

Totals: 3 facts, 2 nulls, 6 opinions.

-- Jon
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