Re: Where is Postgesql ? - MYSQL SURPRISES WITH MAXDB /

>> From my perspective MySQL and PostgreSQL are completely different
>> projects (for starters they even use different licensing schemes -- BSD
>> v. GPL) that are in competition. Since PostgreSQL stands on its own
>> without any dependencies on MySQL, I don't see any reason why
>> PostgreSQL would suffer in any way if MySQL came to an end;
>
> The headlines that "Jack and Jill Wall Street" will be reading in the
> nightmarish outcome of "something bad" happening to MySQL will not be
> "MySQL.com Fails To Migrate To SAPDB", it will be "Open Source Database
> Disaster". The article will spin the story into rhetoric about how this
> team of hackers failed to accomplish the simple task of taking code from
> an ancient mainframe database system and making it work.... with the
> implication woven in that if open source/free software programmers can't
> even get old software to work, how can they get new software to work?

Some concern about violence from the open source community has already
been reported, but I haven't seen any evidence of negative impact resulting
from this, so I remain skeptical:

Embattled SCO Hires Bodyguards for Executives
http://www.linuxinsider.com/perl/story/32223.html

> Jack and Jill Wall Street only read the headlines*. They rarely if ever
> read the first paragraph, and only the smallest fraction of them read
> the whole article. Out of that miniscule fraction, the ones who
> actually do any groundwork of their own to figure out what the newspaper
> was talking about, are yourselves and myself.

Here are some "damaging headlines" which I don't believe have done any
damage at all to the open source communities of the world:

Microsoft engaged in worldwide anti-Linux smarm offensive
http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=6627

Open source fans 'have picked all the wrong fights...
...in all the wrong places'
http://www.silicon.com/software/os/0,39024651,39116877,00.htm

SCO Escalates Linux Legal Battle
http://www.internetwk.com/breakingNews/showArticle.jhtml?
articleID=16101237

I suspect that the MySQL headline you're predicting (hypothetically
assuming it does happen) will have about as much effect as these have.

> Combine that with the newspapers' habit of writing headlines to sell
> newspapers, rather than tell the truth, and you can see where any
> undesirable outcome in an open source project will lead. Especially with
> "open source is bad" being topic-du-jour what with SCO vs World going on
> right now.

I'm laughing right now, but not because I disagree with you, but
because I just posted something similar to this earlier this morning in the
SpamCop.Net newsgroups that points out how misleading the media is for the
purpose of winning the ratings game.

I suspect you would agree with me if I were to tell you that the media
is a regular contributor to the problems we face in society these days.

> Anyone who actually works with computers (as opposed to accomplishes
> their work using computers) is more likely to understand that there's
> more to any problem or statement than just the words. If we heard a
> story about "Is Your Car And Incinerator On Wheels?", we'd be more
> likely to think, "what are they on about?" - Jack and Jill Wall Street
> will be thinking, "what if my car *is* an incinerator on wheels?".

Good point. But awareness of misinformation in the media these days
has been growing by leaps and bounds, especially in the computer industry,
although the headlines still do have a very strong effect I believe this
will eventually shift into large numbers of people moving from not trusting
the press to hating it.

> Once you come to the realisation that people are not inherently good or
> evil, they are just (as a whole) inherently stupid**, the whole world
> starts to make a lot more sense.

I've known this for about as long as I can remember. I just hope you
haven't misread me as being one of those "black and white" thinkers.

With regards to being inherently stupid, I definitely agree to a
certain extent as this is something I observe on an almost daily basis in
dealing with the general public (e.g., bad [motor vehicle] drivers who do
stupid things like turning right when signalling left).

[sNip]
> Check out how most people recommend teaching kids to read newspapers,
> and you'll find out why people develop bad habits like forming opinions
> from headlines!

The only exception I would make to this are the "Comics" pages. ;-)

> ** In any sufficiently large group of people, the average intelligence
> tends towards the minimum. I can't remember whose axiom that was... but
> it refers (more or less) to the fact that in a group, people want to
> conform, and conformity means not asking questions, which means
> believing whatever you're told, which means that you're being stupid.

That's "gullibility" not "stupidity." People can be both intelligent
and gullible at the same time, but I do find that those who aren't well
versed in socializing with others, or have a language or communications
barrier, tend to be more gullible.

--
Randolf Richardson - rr(at)8x(dot)ca
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Please do not eMail me directly when responding
to my postings in the newsgroups.