Informix Information

I know we've all seen the comments on marketing for Informix as opposed to DB2 and the respective audiences for IBM products as opposed to SQL Server and I don't want to open old wounds but I really do wonder whether the traditional standards based relational databases such as Oracle, Informix, and DB2 have had their day. The school kids have been learning Windows for years now and graduates don't seem to understand that there was a computing world pre-Windows. Unless the product has Microsoft written all over it they assume that it isn't any good. They are not interested in learning about open systems and even have the gall to claim that informix does it wrong because they have to use LIKE with % and _. I have had exactly that argument today with a few of our support staff. Because SQL Server does it one way then that is the SQL way. And it's difficult to explain to them that Microsoft can't even agree on their own definitions of SQL. It is clear that SQL Server cannot perform as well as IDS but they keep telling me about the SCO UNIX users who migrated to XP with SQL Server and the new system runs faster. IT's difficult to explain to them that the increased speed is because they have faster processors, faster and bigger disks, and more memory. They don't believe it and nobody is advertising "better then Microsoft". Maybe we all should - but they'd take one look at us and say "you're over 25 you don't know what you are talking about". That is our main challenge - not the DB2/INFORMIX war - or the IBM/Oracle war. We should all be turning our attention to getting the message out in the Universities, Colleges, and schools that there is an alternative to Microsoft. It may require a little more effort to learn it, and to run it, but it can knock spots off of Microsoft. Just my thoughts Malcolm

malcolm weallans wrote: > I know we've all seen the comments on marketing for Informix as opposed to > DB2 and the respective audiences for IBM products as opposed to SQL Server > and I don't want to open old wounds but I really do wonder whether the > traditional standards based relational databases such as Oracle, Informix, > and DB2 have had their day. The school kids have been learning Windows for > years now and graduates don't seem to understand that there was a computing > world pre-Windows. Unless the product has Microsoft written all over it > they assume that it isn't any good. They are not interested in learning > about open systems and even have the gall to claim that informix does it > wrong because they have to use LIKE with % and _. I have had exactly that > argument today with a few of our support staff. Because SQL Server does it > one way then that is the SQL way. And it's difficult to explain to them > that Microsoft can't even agree on their own definitions of SQL. > It is clear that SQL Server cannot perform as well as IDS but they keep > telling me about the SCO UNIX users who migrated to XP with SQL Server and > the new system runs faster. IT's difficult to explain to them that the > increased speed is because they have faster processors, faster and bigger > disks, and more memory. They don't believe it and nobody is advertising > "better then Microsoft". Maybe we all should - but they'd take one look at > us and say "you're over 25 you don't know what you are talking about". > That is our main challenge - not the DB2/INFORMIX war - or the IBM/Oracle > war. We should all be turning our attention to getting the message out in > the Universities, Colleges, and schools that there is an alternative to > Microsoft. It may require a little more effort to learn it, and to run it, > but it can knock spots off of Microsoft. > > Just my thoughts > > Malcolm > It's not just the kids. The management crowd grew up on Microsoft too. So combine Microsoft weenies in management slots buying the technology that the kids in the tech department thought was cool, and you are fighting an uphill battle. You can only put kinks in Microsoft with solid numbers. Nothing else works. I spent a year of demonstrating Linux and DB2 by the numbers and won, after showing solid proof that there are better ways than Microsoft. It took a lot of technology shopping, PowerPoint slides, and solid confidence that I was right and no fucking punkass little bitches were going to win over my experience with their dime store toys. Plain and simple. You get back up on your horse and ride, and tell those little brats to stfu and watch the master. That's how you get it done, and take back what is yours. ;-)