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win32 port
win32 port
Posted Jul 16, 2004 20:30 UTC (Fri) by ringerc (guest, #3071)Parent article: A look at PostgreSQL
I'd argue that the win32 port of PostgreSQL is quite significant to the
LWN.net crowd - or I'd expect it to be. For one thing, it means that you
can add 'and it'll run on Windows if we later need it to' to the list of
reasons why you chose PostgreSQL when talking to PHBs (say, in project
planning). It also means that if you have developers who use Windows at
home, they can run a DB server for development much more easily.
It also means that if your company has win32 servers, you have the option
of using a powerful, affordable, reliable and portable database for your
in-house application development, knowing there will be no pain if you
want to migrate to *NIX later and that *NIX client drivers won't be a
problem. Oh yeah, and you won't pay anything in software licenses, which
means you can develop an app you might not otherwise be able to.
I suspect a lot of the LWN readership will work with or be exposed to
win32 environments, willingly or unwillingly, and for many of them this
could be quite significant.
For me, it just means one less portability issue to worry about, and
eliminates the one major reason I might be forced to use MySQL for a
project. (The remaining minor reason is MySQL's amazing full-text indexes
and boolean MATCH). It's nice to know that the database runs on win32, but
I don't expect to need to actually do it.
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Seconded
Posted Jul 18, 2004 14:31 UTC (Sun) by leonbrooks (guest, #1494) [Link]
The sticking point for many migrations to Linux is almost always in deserting some treasured MS-Windows app. If said treasured app can be made to run on an MS-Windows port of a Linux component first (PostgreSQL, Mozilla, OpenOffice.org, ThunderBird, etc) then the OS boundary ceases to be a blockade.Once on Linux, users can expand into the native KDE (Kontact/KMail, Konqueror and KParts, KDevelop/QTDesigner depending on situation), GNOME (Gnumeric, Evolution) and other apps as well, and of course "enriching" the user experience was how MS got people stuck on their platform in the first place. The differences here are that there truly is enrichment happening, not just enchromement (stationery for email? pflugh! are you going to read it or frame it?), that nobody has a lock on the technology (nobody can lock down the technology), and that end users have the capability to tailor their enrichment completely.