Re: NewEra to exploit Universal Server (fwd)
Nils Myklebust wrote: <snipped for brevity, but it was good stuff> > May be (they whould stand a chance), but it didn't sound like they > even understood the issues, much less wanted to talk about them > with anybody. > Hope I'm not over-posting here :-) , but I wanted to comment from the peanut gallery. My observation is that to expect anything out of Informix for GUI is to expect too much, at least for small shops. I'm looking to try and stay as portable as possible with the front-end, and depend on them ONLY for a good data base engine. I'll look elsewhere for a good front-end, from companies that are really interested in developers. This is not to say Informix is "not", but evidence points to them only interested in BIG shops with BIG budgets. This is a freemarket, so who am i to judge. I don't worry about NewEra anymore, knowing who the intended victims--er I mean target customers are. :-) Besides, if Universal Server is as good as the stuff they've presented so far, the whole paradigm is going to change. GUI front-ends are going to take a pounding once US is released, including NewEra. You may want to hold off when considering GUIs until AFTER Universal Server is released. Or look more closely at what works with Illustra... At our last user group meeting, NewEra was presented as a migration product for those shops with a big investment in 4GL, wanting to protect their investment in the efforts that went into the 4GL source code, and applications. I was "corrected" in my perception that if it walks like a duck then it must BE a duck, comparing NE with Delphi and Powerbuilder et al. If you follow the logic in this, then it makes sense to not be so concerned about NewEra. Go for Universal Server and Web-based thinking. This is probably why Informix isn't responding to the GUI market the way they should IF GUI was the market to concentrate on. The whole thought process of client/server is about to shift again. > My major problem with Informix right now is that they are neither > talking (about what they plan to do) nor are they asking anyone > what they should do. This is in the development tools area. They > are talking a lot about their engines. If the tools people could > even be half as talkative they might stir up some interest and get > some results. > After viewing many posts, it seems like ODBC connectivity is one of the biggest problems this community faces of late. JDBC is a concern, and Informix SHOULD take a leadership position with it. After all, Universal Server is intended for Web data bases, and Java is an active part of it. Oh yeah, speaking of active, we gotta deal with Microsoft and ActiveX... The tools market is incredibly tough, and it is surprising that INFORMIX doesn't try to win more friends from the actual developers who use their products day in and day out. Just looking at the posts here shows a sampling of some very good thinkers out there, maybe a little gratitude from INFORMIX would be in order, by providing a little more information and active support to developers. :-) > Nils.Myklebust@ccmail.telemax.no > NM Data AS, P.O.Box 9090 Gronland, N-0133 Oslo, Norway > My opinions are those of my company -- \\\\|// (6 6) ==============================---o00--(_)--00o---============================ Tim Schaefer tschaefe@encore.com tschaefe@shadow.net www.shadow.net/~tschaefe http://www.lp.org Liberty! http://www.cato.org =============================================================================