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Re: [PLUG] Can Open Source Replace Oracle?
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Edmund Goppelt said:
> When City Council asked the Records Commissioner why she couldn't make
> the service available to everyone, she said:
>
> 1. Doing so would overburden the City's Internet connection.
>
> 2. Their license with Oracle Corporation restricted them to 50 named
> users (i.e., not simultaneous users, but the same 50 people).
>
> What do you think of the Commissioner's reasoning? First, are these
> real obstacles. If yes, how substantial are these obstacles? What can
> the City do to get around them and how much would it cost?
The first might be a real obstacle, depending on the speed of that dept's
connection; what the expected traffic might be, were it opened to the
general public. Without details of current connection, and traffic
projections for expanded access, no one can say otherwise (for sure,
anyway).
The license is a real obstacle. The license may indeed limit them that
way. Until you see the license, you have to take her word for that. If
they're locked into a legal agreement for a length of time, not a whole
lot you can do.
> I asked her recently why she didn't just ditch Oracle and use
> PostgreSQL or MySQL. Her response: "You can run free software on one
> little home computer, but we can't. The demands of our Dept. are too
> great." For the record, Hallwatch runs MySQL and Zope on an 800 Mhz
> Celeron, 512 MB RAM, 40 GB HD off of a shared T-1 connection.
Well, no offense, but your config and needs are probably entirely
different than hers. Not to say you may not be right, but without details
of their current system, load and traffic, you can't just claim that yours
would handle all that.
Not knowing enuf about the internals of either Postgres or MySQL, I can't
say whether they offer the same capabilities as this department either has
now, or needs (the two are not always the same)
> Is she correct, in your view? Would PostgreSQL or other Open Source
> database not be up to the job? In your opinion, what hardware
> configuration does this application require?
Hardware is secondary - you can throw bunches of hardware at it, but if
the software doesn't offer a needed feature, more hardware won't (always)
help.
IOW, we (perhaps you) don't have nearly enough details to say
authoritatively "yes" or "no".
> Unless I hear from you otherwise, I will assume that it is ok to show
> your comments to the Commissioner or other City officials.
Sure, you can show my comment. :-)
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