Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!cs.utexas.edu!sun-barr!rutgers!uwvax!tank!cs_bob@gsbacd.uchicago.edu
From: cs_bob@gsbacd.uchicago.edu
Newsgroups: comp.databases
Subject: Re: Selecting a commercial RDBMS (Request for suggestions)
Message-ID: <3199@tank.uchicago.edu>
Date: 12 May 89 16:47:51 GMT
Sender: news@tank.uchicago.edu
Organization: University of Chicago Graduate School of Business
Lines: 32


 
In article <1089@ginosko.samsung.com>, simmel@ginosko.samsung.com (Sergiu Simmel) writes...
 
> 
>I am trying to select a commercial RDBMS product to be used as a back-end
>for a system we're working on.  Here are a few criteria for selection:
> 
>  * RDBMS should have a large enough share of the Unix(tm) RDBMS market;
>  * RDBMS should have a quality (stable, well designed, working, complete)
>    programmatic (3GL) interface (no pre-processors, such as ESQL, required);
..

No offense, but that seems to be a pretty arbitrary requirement to place 
second on a list ordered roughly by importance. Just as an example, you
are technically ruling out any C based system, since C pre-processes 
macros by default. A stiff requirement indeed for a UNIX based system.

I'm no expert on UNIX based DBMS systems, but if you're looking for a
relational product that satisfies both of your first two requirements,
I wish you luck. I think your first requirement would point you to
either INFORMIX, Unify or Ingres, and perhaps Oracle, depending on
what you mean by "large enough share". I don't know much about Unify,
but the other three pre-process 3GL programs. Informix has what I consider
the only true 4GL in the relational world. Both Ingres and Oracle market
4GL's, but as far as I'm concerned, neither of them are robust enough to
warrant calling them true languages, let alone 4GL's. 

Anyway, I wish you luck.


When you get right down to it