[Q] Databases -- Gadfly vs Metakit vs SQLite

Cameron Laird claird at lairds.com
Tue Mar 18 15:52:54 EST 2003


In article <%_Vca.92242$zo2.2429505 at news2.tin.it>,
Alex Martelli  <aleax at aleax.it> wrote:
			.
			.
			.
>Let me commend and second this attitude: unless you have specific
>user requirements to the contrary, AVOID relying on closed-source
>components if you can.  By using open-source components, and bundling
>them with your application if feasible, you may be able to make your
>applications more long-lived and thus more valuable, without being
>at the mercy of the closed-source supplier.
>
>
>Alex
>

Alex' sermon might sound prosaic, or even tautologous,
to many of the readers here.  What's remarkable is that
officials from Microsoft and many leading organizations
*still* say THE OPPOSITE in public, apparently in all
sincerity.  Their claim is that ... I have trouble re-
peating this with a straight face ... customers want
software suppliers who understand their needs, and will
take care of them.  Open-source, they say, supplies 
poorly integrated pieces of unknown quality, while only
Microsoft or a comparable large-scale vendor can supply
the high-value dependability customers truly desire.

I conclude, therefore, that there's a need for Alex to
continue to speak the truth as precisely and as often as
he does.

Microsoft:  it's a national security risk (according to
testimony in federal court).
-- 

Cameron Laird <Cameron at Lairds.com>
Business:  http://www.Phaseit.net
Personal:  http://phaseit.net/claird/home.html




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