Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!snorkelwacker!bloom-beacon!eru!luth!sunic!tut!tukki!sakkinen
From: sakkinen@tukki.jyu.fi (Markku Sakkinen)
Newsgroups: comp.databases
Subject: Re: Summary of fututre trends in databases
Message-ID: <2628@tukki.jyu.fi>
Date: 5 Jan 90 07:06:31 GMT
References: <2907@dogie.macc.wisc.edu>
Reply-To: sakkinen@jytko.jyu.fi (Markku Sakkinen)
          SAKKINEN@FINJYU.bitnet (alternative)
Organization: University of Jyvaskyla, Finland
Lines: 25

In article <2907@dogie.macc.wisc.edu> theisen@vms.macc.wisc.edu (Barbara Theisen) writes:
>I am looking for an article that summarizes the future directions of
>database systems in not too technical terms. [...]
> [...]  Actually, I'm sure I've heard Dr. Stonebraker
>speak on the subject, so I bet he has published something like this somewhere.

It is a good idea to dig up some paper by Professor Stonebraker, because
he is both a leading figure in the field and a good writer.
BUT do not use it as your sole background, because Stonebraker is also
very biassed: relational is good, everything else is bad.
I heard him in a panel at VLDB 1987, saying essentially:

1. There is nothing new in object-oriented databases.

2. Anything that is new in them can be done in Postgres as well.

3. Those things in object-oriented databases that cannot be done
   even in Postgres are unnecessary or harmful.

Markku Sakkinen
Department of Computer Science
University of Jyvaskyla (a's with umlauts)
Seminaarinkatu 15
SF-40100 Jyvaskyla (umlauts again)
Finland