PostgreSQL Windows port strategy

Dear Friends,

As a minor contributor to pgAdmin, I would like to express ideas as regards
the Windows port. As a personal point of view, it may or may not reflect the
community ideas, who knows. Don't flame me too much, I am only a casual user
of PostrgreSQL...

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Microsoft success is not due to a particular software (Word, Excel, Access, Ms
SQL Server, Internet Explorer, Visual Basic, etc...) but to the combination
of all these softwares on a proprietary platform (Windows).

Whatever free software breaks into this combination of proprietary softwares
will participate, one step after another, in the destruction of Microsoft
monopoly. Therefore, PostgreSQL and OpenOffice for Windows are probably the
most valuable efforts to break down Microsoft monopoly.

Windows alone, without Word, Excel, Power Point, Visual Basic, MS SQL Server,
will not convince a single customer. And this will be the end of Microsoft.

On the converse, Linux rise is due, not only to the availability of a large
number of softwares, but also to the notion a collaborative works inside a
community. Even without cross-porting software from Unixes to Windows, I
believe Windows will die of its own death because collaborative development
in communities is superior. It is only a question of time.

The conditions for PostgreSQL to defeat Microsoft quickly is that we stay
united and wage war on the two fronts: Windows on the one hand and
Linux/Unixes on the other hand.

Most of you are Americans and as such, you probably studied the American civil
war. One of the reasons why the civil war claimed 500.000 dies is that the
armies fought on different fronts, at different times, without
synchronization.

As regards PostgreSQL, our efforts should concentrate on both platforms at the
same time. In other words, this means: porting PostgreSQL to Windows,
bringing pgAdmin2/3 to Linux and other Free Unixies. And probably delivering
bundles under Linux, Free Unixes and Windows, offering the best Free
softwares: PostgreSQL server, pgAdmin client and PhpPgAdmin web interface.

MySQL success is largely due to its availability under Windows in bundles,
which is a pure Microsoft strategy. PostgreSQL are not and will never be
playing Microsoft strategy because we are a world community.

To sum up:

1) Microsoft sucess is due to the availibility of bundles under a proprietary
platform. Replacing Microsoft leading softwares with Free alternatives
participates in the destruction of Microsoft.

2) Linux and other free Unixes also offer a large number of softwares. Our
competive advantage is to work in communities. Even without cross-porting,
Free software is going to replace closed software, this is only a question of
time.

3) To accelerate the replacement of Windows closed source solutions,
PostgreSQL community should synchronize the releases of PostgreSQL under
Windows, Linux and Unixes. Not porting PostgreSQL to Windows is playing
Microsoft strategy.

4) Also, we should focus on offering users a bundle including: server
(PostgreSQL), client (pgAdmin), web interface (phpPgAdmin) and probably Php.
This does not need to be a single installer, but at least it should exist as
links on the web page.

Just my 2 cents.
Best regards,
Jean-Michel POURE