Informix free
A poster asked where to get a free Informix release for Linux. The replies were essentially "there isn't one – buy it like everyone else," and the thread turned into a discussion of competitors' licensing: Oracle's software (8i/9i, Developer 2000, Designer) was downloadable free after registering with Oracle Technology Network, and Sybase offered only the old ASE 11.0.3 free, while ASA was not free. Several participants argued Informix should give away Informix SE (or an older 7.30) to win developers, and complained about developer-unfriendly licensing such as having to buy three copies of everything. No free Informix option was identified, so the original question went unresolved.
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One little questions...Were i found an Informix release for Linux..free ?
On Sat, 10 Feb 2001 22:48:37 GMT, Joshua III <rsemail@libero.it> wrote: : One little questions...Were i found an Informix release for Linux..free ? Buy it like the rest of us, tightwad.
"A" <trashcan@mattress.atww.org> writes: > On Sat, 10 Feb 2001 22:48:37 GMT, Joshua III <rsemail@libero.it> wrote: > : One little questions...Were i found an Informix release for Linux..free ? > > Buy it like the rest of us, tightwad. "Caveat Emptor". Sybase and Oracle are still free for Linux. Too bad that Informix has yet to understand the "Free Software" business model behind Linux (i.e. "you charge for services/consulting, but not for software"). -- Forte International, P.O. Box 1412, Ridgecrest, CA 93556-1412 Ronald Cole <ronald@forte-intl.com> Phone: (760) 499-9142 President, CEO Fax: (760) 499-9152 My GPG fingerprint: C3AF 4BE9 BEA6 F1C2 B084 4A88 8851 E6C8 69E3 B00B
On 10 Feb 2001 21:23:07 -0800, Ronald Cole <ronald@forte-intl.com> wrote: : "A" <trashcan@mattress.atww.org> writes: :> On Sat, 10 Feb 2001 22:48:37 GMT, Joshua III <rsemail@libero.it> wrote: :> : One little questions...Were i found an Informix release for Linux..free ? :> :> Buy it like the rest of us, tightwad. : "Caveat Emptor". Sybase and Oracle are still free for Linux. Too bad : that Informix has yet to understand the "Free Software" business model : behind Linux (i.e. "you charge for services/consulting, but not for : software"). Have not looked into Sybase, but I think I was told at last check that Oracle did charge for all versions. New info? - A
I got a free Oracle 8i through Caldera, by attending one of their "phone seminars" for software developers. But it is not generally "free" for the taking. I don't know about Sybase ASE, but Sybase ASA (Adaptive Server Anywhere) is NOT free for Linux. I wouldn't expect the ASE (Adaptive Server Enterprise) to be free either, since it is a higher cost product than ASA. That being said, IMHO, Informix could release its Informix SE for Linux for free/unsupported (with fee based support) and sell the other products as performance/feature upgrades to attempt to gain greater market share. "A" <trashcan@mattress.atww.org> wrote in message news:96699n$obk$1@mattress.atww.org... > On 10 Feb 2001 21:23:07 -0800, Ronald Cole <ronald@forte-intl.com> wrote: > : "A" <trashcan@mattress.atww.org> writes: > :> On Sat, 10 Feb 2001 22:48:37 GMT, Joshua III <rsemail@libero.it> wrote: > :> : One little questions...Were i found an Informix release for Linux..free ? > :> > :> Buy it like the rest of us, tightwad. > > : "Caveat Emptor". Sybase and Oracle are still free for Linux. Too bad > : that Informix has yet to understand the "Free Software" business model > : behind Linux (i.e. "you charge for services/consulting, but not for > : software"). > > Have not looked into Sybase, but I think I was told at last check that > Oracle did charge for all versions. New info? > > - A > >
I didnt follow the download like about Oracle on Linux (there is a link), but I know you can download the 8i db, I believe the 9i database, Developer 2000 Forms and Reports (Im using both right now to develop both forms and reports for my current client), and Designer -- for free through the Oracle Technology Network (OTN -- http://technet.oracle.com/ ). You have to join but its all free. I really like Informix as a technical product, and prefer to work with it. But I am realistic also, which I am scurrying as fast as I can to come up to speed with Oracle. I can tell you horror stories about Informix sales and marketing from when I was DBA at probably the most award winning on-line travel agency (of which Informix was even an investor the travel agency was sold and now running on Oracle). My current client is switching to Oracle because no one is writing pharmaceutical-biotech software in Informix (there are several packages in Oracle) and they dont want to have to write all their own software. Come on Informix, get your marketing/sales act together! Dont go the way of DEC (great product with no marketing/sales). Tom JJ wrote: > I got a free Oracle 8i through Caldera, by attending one of their "phone > seminars" for software developers. But it is not generally "free" for the > taking. > > I don't know about Sybase ASE, but Sybase ASA (Adaptive Server Anywhere) is > NOT free for Linux. I wouldn't expect the ASE (Adaptive Server Enterprise) > to be free either, since it is a higher cost product than ASA. > > That being said, IMHO, Informix could release its Informix SE for Linux for > free/unsupported (with fee based support) and sell the other products as > performance/feature upgrades to attempt to gain greater market share. > > "A" <trashcan@mattress.atww.org> wrote in message > news:96699n$obk$1@mattress.atww.org... > > On 10 Feb 2001 21:23:07 -0800, Ronald Cole <ronald@forte-intl.com> wrote: > > : "A" <trashcan@mattress.atww.org> writes: > > :> On Sat, 10 Feb 2001 22:48:37 GMT, Joshua III <rsemail@libero.it> wrote: > > :> : One little questions...Were i found an Informix release for > Linux..free ? > > :> > > :> Buy it like the rest of us, tightwad. > > > > : "Caveat Emptor". Sybase and Oracle are still free for Linux. Too bad > > : that Informix has yet to understand the "Free Software" business model > > : behind Linux (i.e. "you charge for services/consulting, but not for > > : software"). > > > > Have not looked into Sybase, but I think I was told at last check that > > Oracle did charge for all versions. New info? > > > > - A > > > >
I agree - we support multiple databases with our application and Oracle is the worst as far as complexity of administration. My favorite is Informix SE - small footprint and practically no administration. Nice for our smaller installations where they have no IT staff. As I said in another thread, we have been using Informix since the mid-80's and we had Informix 4GL 1.0 - I think we were one of the first to get it. They still hadn't worked out some bugs with 4GL windows so they were disabled in the first version we had. My observation has been that Informix treats developers just like any old end user, when they should be supporting developers (with information and low cost development products). Developers sell end user engine licenses and runtime licenses for them. IMHO, I think they should release Informix SE as a free product (or very low cost) for Linux (and maybe even NT) and use that to sell upgrades to the higher end products and gain market share. I don't think they are adding new features to SE anyway. "Tom Grenier" <tom@sqlman.com> wrote in message news:3A88C1DA.29AF0CCD@sqlman.com... > I didn't follow the download like about Oracle on Linux (there is a link), but I > know you can download the 8i db, I believe the 9i database, Developer 2000 Forms > and Reports (I'm using both right now to develop both forms and reports for my > current client), and Designer -- for free through the Oracle Technology Network > (OTN -- http://technet.oracle.com/ ). You have to join - but it's all free. > > I really like Informix as a technical product, and prefer to work with it. But > I am realistic also, which I am scurrying as fast as I can to come up to speed > with Oracle. I can tell you horror stories about Informix sales and marketing > from when I was DBA at probably the most award winning on-line travel agency (of > which Informix was even an investor - the travel agency was sold and now > running on Oracle). My current client is switching to Oracle because no one is > writing pharmaceutical-biotech software in Informix (there are several packages > in Oracle) and they don't want to have to write all their own software. > > Come on Informix, get your marketing/sales act together! Don't go the way of > DEC (great product with no marketing/sales). > > Tom > > > JJ wrote: > > > I got a free Oracle 8i through Caldera, by attending one of their "phone > > seminars" for software developers. But it is not generally "free" for the > > taking. > > > > I don't know about Sybase ASE, but Sybase ASA (Adaptive Server Anywhere) is > > NOT free for Linux. I wouldn't expect the ASE (Adaptive Server Enterprise) > > to be free either, since it is a higher cost product than ASA. > > > > That being said, IMHO, Informix could release its Informix SE for Linux for > > free/unsupported (with fee based support) and sell the other products as > > performance/feature upgrades to attempt to gain greater market share. > > > > "A" <trashcan@mattress.atww.org> wrote in message > > news:96699n$obk$1@mattress.atww.org... > > > On 10 Feb 2001 21:23:07 -0800, Ronald Cole <ronald@forte-intl.com> wrote: > > > : "A" <trashcan@mattress.atww.org> writes: > > > :> On Sat, 10 Feb 2001 22:48:37 GMT, Joshua III <rsemail@libero.it> wrote: > > > :> : One little questions...Were i found an Informix release for > > Linux..free ? > > > :> > > > :> Buy it like the rest of us, tightwad. > > > > > > : "Caveat Emptor". Sybase and Oracle are still free for Linux. Too bad > > > : that Informix has yet to understand the "Free Software" business model > > > : behind Linux (i.e. "you charge for services/consulting, but not for > > > : software"). > > > > > > Have not looked into Sybase, but I think I was told at last check that > > > Oracle did charge for all versions. New info? > > > > > > - A > > > > > > >
Tom Grenier <tom@sqlman.com> writes: > I really like Informix as a technical product, and prefer to work > with it. But I am realistic also, which I am scurrying as fast as I > can to come up to speed with Oracle. I have friends who are making roughly $225/hr in the San Francisco Bay Area consulting Oracle (just you try to get that consulting Informix). That is reality, unfortunately. Maybe Informix will go the way of Unify (they certainly seem to have adopted their marketing techniques). Who knows? -- Forte International, P.O. Box 1412, Ridgecrest, CA 93556-1412 Ronald Cole <ronald@forte-intl.com> Phone: (760) 499-9142 President, CEO Fax: (760) 499-9152 My GPG fingerprint: C3AF 4BE9 BEA6 F1C2 B084 4A88 8851 E6C8 69E3 B00B
"JJ" <jj@nospam.com> writes: > IMHO, I think they should release Informix SE as a free product (or very low > cost) for Linux (and maybe even NT) and use that to sell upgrades to the > higher end products and gain market share. I don't think they are adding > new features to SE anyway. I don't actually think that Informix's prices are unreasonable for their Linux product line. What I think is unreasonable is insisting that I buy three copies of everything! That's definitely developer unfriendly... -- Forte International, P.O. Box 1412, Ridgecrest, CA 93556-1412 Ronald Cole <ronald@forte-intl.com> Phone: (760) 499-9142 President, CEO Fax: (760) 499-9152 My GPG fingerprint: C3AF 4BE9 BEA6 F1C2 B084 4A88 8851 E6C8 69E3 B00B
Ronald Cole <ronald@forte-intl.com> writes: > "A" <trashcan@mattress.atww.org> writes: > > On Sat, 10 Feb 2001 22:48:37 GMT, Joshua III <rsemail@libero.it> wrote: > > : One little questions...Were i found an Informix release for Linux..free ? > > > > Buy it like the rest of us, tightwad. > > "Caveat Emptor". Sybase and Oracle are still free for Linux. The only _free_ Linux versjon of Sybase is ASE 11.0.3 -and it's an _old_ version with some minor bugs (ie. ignoring DST). I really don't know about Oracle, but isn't it a "development" version? Shure, Informix could realease a 7.30 with a few bugs for free use.... Thomas
Thomas Parsli <thomas.parsli@startsiden.no> writes: > Shure, Informix could realease a 7.30 with a few bugs for free use.... ...but why would they do that when they can (and do) sell lots of copies with the same bugs? Is that how the rest of your shentence goes? -- Forte International, P.O. Box 1412, Ridgecrest, CA 93556-1412 Ronald Cole <ronald@forte-intl.com> Phone: (760) 499-9142 President, CEO Fax: (760) 499-9152 My GPG fingerprint: C3AF 4BE9 BEA6 F1C2 B084 4A88 8851 E6C8 69E3 B00B
In the year of Our Lord 15 Feb 2001 15:37:54 -0800, Ronald Cole <ronald@forte-intl.com> spake, saying: >Thomas Parsli <thomas.parsli@startsiden.no> writes: >> Shure, Informix could realease a 7.30 with a few bugs for free use.... > >...but why would they do that when they can (and do) sell lots of >copies with the same bugs? > >Is that how the rest of your shentence goes? Exshactly. :-)