IBM Informix product direction...rant/praise

IBMers,=0D=0A=0D=0APlease, please=2E=2E=2E Whatever you do with our beloved= Informix product,=0D=0Aplease keep up the integrity, thoroughness, reliabi= lity, quality of the=0D=0Aproduct=2E =0D=0ASpecifically I mean =2E=2E=2E= =2E Seeing mails from oracle (like the one at the=0D=0Abottom of this) way = too often is really aggravating and a great reason=0D=0Ato not want to go i= n that direction =2E=2E=2E Ever!=0D=0A=0D=0AIf you push out garbage every m= onth or so, how do the customers actually=0D=0Aget any work done?=2E=2E=2E = Systems must always be down for upgrade, and if=0D=0Acompanies want to save= money on IT personnel=2E=2E=2E=2E Having to upgrade=0D=0Asoftware every fe= w weeks is not practical! (even if you offshore it!)=0D=0A=0D=0AThe percen= tage of time I have called oracle for training classes and=0D=0Agotten the = "can you call tomorrow, our system is down for upgrade"=0D=0Aresponse is ho= rrible=2E I tell them they should migrate to a different=0D=0Adatabase=2E = When the oracle sales reps call pushing consulting and=0D=0Aeverything els= e, I say yes, we are converting from oracle to informix=0D=0A(joking) can y= ou help with that=2E Sure gets them off the phone fast!=0D=0A=0D=0AI recen= tly attended the informix 9=2E4 internals class=2E (awesome class by=0D=0A= the way)=2E=0D=0AIt was a great pleasure to see how things have changed, ye= t how things=0D=0Ahave not changed=2E The conceptual progression of the In= formix database=0D=0Aengine over the years has been really cool=2E=2E=2E=2E= Really logical=2E=2E=2E=2E With=0D=0Athe occasional "what the heck is tha= t for" new feature=2E=2E=2E But keeping up=0D=0Awith the buffoonery gadgetr= y salesmanship of other vendors is =2E=2E=2E =2E=2E=2E=0D=0AHmmm=2E=2E=2EBu= siness=2E=0D=0A=0D=0AWe push oracle upgrades along simply because oracle is= always=0D=0Adesupporting things=2E We upgraded to oracle 9 because the ot= hers are=0D=0Adesupported=2E We haven't had time to turn on many of the or= acle 9=0D=0Afeatures because all we do is play catch up on patches and upgr= ades=2E=2E=2E=2E=0D=0AI don't wanna be an oracle DBA if that's what it mean= s=2E=0D=0APlus oracle 9 is like a total engine rewrite=2E If you go to cla= ss, you=0D=0Adon't learn much cuz they spend too much time pitching other c= lasses =2E=2E=2E=0D=0A"to learn about this feature, go to this class=2E=2E= =2E" At least some of=0D=0Athe "new" features don't cost extra money to t= urn on=2E =0D=0A=0D=0ADon't even get me started on sqlserver=2E=2E=2E=2E= =2E=2E=2E Pretty cool, but not when=0D=0Athe o/s gets virus/etc patched at = least once a month=2E=2E=2E =2E=2E More=0D=0Adowntime, more headache=2E=2E= =2E More "hey, does anybody know what that patch=0D=0Aactually did cuz it t= ook out the DB?"=2E=0D=0A=0D=0AIBM and Informix are a good fit=2E Super so= lid company, super solid=0D=0Aproduct=2E=0D=0A=0D=0AMaybe this means nothin= g cuz you have to make money like any company=2E=2E=2E=2E=0D=0ABut don't cu= stomers want/willing to pay for solid/quality/reliability=0D=0Aover patch/p= atch/upgrade/patch/'sorry can not do business today, our=0D=0Acomputers are= down'?=0D=0A=0D=0AEnough ranting=2E=2E=2E =0D=0AThank you for listening an= d thank you for keeping Informix alive!=0D=0A=0D=0ANorma Jean Sebastian=0D= =0A=0D=0A=0D=0A=0D=0A=0D=0A=0D=0A-----Original Message-----=0D=0AFrom: Orac= le Obsolescence Administrator [mailto:replies@oracle-mail=2Ecom]=0D=0A=0D= =0ASent: Tuesday, October 12, 2004 8:57 PM=0D=0ATo: =0D=0ASubject: Oracle C= orporation: New Desupport Advisories & Notices=0D=0APublished - September 2= 004=0D=0A=0D=0A=0D=0APLEASE DO NOT REPLY TO THIS E-MAIL=2E This e-mail add= ress is not=0D=0Amonitored=2E=0D=0A=0D=0AThis e-mail contains priority desu= pport information and is being sent to=0D=0AMetaLink users as a service fro= m Obsolescence (desupport services)=2E=0D=0A=0D=0AThe following new desuppo= rt advisories & notices have been approved and=0D=0Apublished for your info= rmation:=0D=0A=0D=0A- 3rd Party Product Desupport Advisory - ALL Phaos Tech= nology's Products=0D=0A- 3rd Party Product Desupport Advisory - HP OpenVMS = Alpha 7=2E1-2=0D=0A- 3rd Party Product Desupport Advisory - HP OpenVMS Alph= a 7=2E2-1 &=0D=0A7=2E2-1H1=0D=0A- 3rd Party Product Desupport Advisory - HP= OpenVMS Alpha 7=2E2-2=0D=0A- 3rd Party Product Desupport Advisory - HP-UX = 10=2E20=0D=0A- Oracle Collaboration Suite 9=2E0=2E3 & 9=2E0=2E3=2Ex=0D=0A- = Oracle Forms 9i 9=2E0=2E2 & 9=2E0=2E2=2Ex=0D=0A- Oracle Phaos ALL=0D=0A- Or= acle Reports 9i 9=2E0=2E2 & 9=2E0=2E2=2Ex=0D=0A=0D=0APlease review MetaLink= Doc ID: 284410=2E1 for further details on the=0D=0Aabove=2E=0D=0AAll desup= port advisories and notices are available in Certify (via=0D=0AMetaLink) by= following this path:=0D=0A"Certify & Availability"=3D=3D>"1=2E View Certif= ications by=0D=0AProduct"=3D=3D>"Desupport Notices"=2E=0D=0A=0D=0APlease fo= rward all desupport related questions to OBSSUPP_US@oracle=2Ecom=0D=0A=0D= =0AThank you!=0D=0AObsolescence Administrator=0D=0A=0D=0A------------------= -----------------------=0D=0A=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D= =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D= =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D The=0D=0Ainfo= rmation contained in this message may be privileged and confidential=0D= =0Aand protected from disclosure=2E If the reader of this message is not= the=0D=0Aintended recipient, or an employee or agent responsible for del= ivering=0D=0Athis message to the intended recipient, you are hereby notif= ied that any=0D=0Areproduction, dissemination or distribution of this com= munication is=0D=0Astrictly prohibited=2E If you have received this commu= nication in error,=0D=0Aplease notify us immediately by replying to the m= essage and deleting it=0D=0Afrom your computer=2E Thank you=2E Tellabs= =0D=0A=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D= =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D= =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=0D=0A