INFORMIX and ORACLE on LINUX

Question

Hello Stephen,
some time ago we talked about Forte for LINUX. Now I think it will need
not a long time that Forte is available on LINUX.
INFORMIX and ORACLE has officially announced that they offer their
Database on LINUX. Now it is only a question of time, that Forte
got a business-case from big Firms which want to see Forte on LINUX.
In GERMANY I know that Mercedes use LINUX for car-development and
Sixt-Budget use LINUX for their car-rental (worldwide).
I think, if Forte is availaible for LINUX than a big beng goes through
the IT-Market. Many firms just wait for a OO-orientated 4GL-Development
environment to distribute their business-processes to many little
servers which are cheap and powerfull. It is than a question of
less money to use a big machine or just 10 or 20 LINUX servers (which are
cheaper and faster).
Sorry for my enthusiasm on this mailing list, but i'am
so happy to hear from this and want's to cry it out all over the world :-)))))
Joseph Mirwald

Answer 1

At 09:03 AM 8/22/98 +0200, Joseph Mirwald wrote:
Hello Stephen,
some time ago we talked about Forte for LINUX. Now I think it will need
not a long time that Forte is available on LINUX.Well, I suspect if you ask them, the official policy statement is: Linux is
not a supported platform at this time, and we cannot discuss unannounced
products. (or some such thing). Privately, talking to some of the Forte
people at FORUM this year, I was distinctly left with the impression that
it will be a cold day in hell before such a port is done.
INFORMIX and ORACLE has officially announced that they offer their
Database on LINUX. Now it is only a question of time, that Forte
got a business-case from big Firms which want to see Forte on LINUX.Well, I haven't talked to our Oracle sales rep, but I did go to their web
site and I couldn't find anywhere where you could download it, or much more
than a "how great it is" statement. Based upon my prior dealings with
Oracle, and some well documented cases, I would be surprised if you could
get it today - delivered and working, that is.
Informix, on the other hand, I just downloaded (not installed yet, but at
least I have in my hot little paws something that says it will be Informix
on Linux).
One of the problems that Forte faces in the marketplace is the cost of the
product. Yes, it does a lot (personally, I'm quite a fan). But, some IT
shops - especially the ones that have capable people on staff - are
beginning to look at the distributed object characteristics of Java and
asking "Why can't I do what I want with Java RMI, etc.?" When I talked to a
Forte salesman at FORUM, his only response was "Well, those really aren't
Forte customers anyway!" As Java adds things like transactional objects,
transparent database access (yup! persistent objects in a relational
database - without all the coding - and with performance too!), JavaSpaces,
Jini, etc. I think it's a "head in the sand" approach for Forte to ignore
this. To me, Java presents some very compelling features. And, according to
some friends I have inside of Sun, basically all of the brightest people in
Sun have all migrated over to doing the Java stuff, so it's only likely to
get better. People like Rick Cattel (databases) and Jim Waldo (distributed
object systems) who have been giving this stuff lots of thought for
years!! That's why it's so well thought out when you see it for the first
time.
The only glaring omission from it seems to be a generic event queue
mechanism. Fortunately, given the other stuff Java has to offer (RMI, event
classes, etc.) you can build a very good one in about a man week. In fact,
Java has one, they just didn't take a "high" enough superclass - they
limited it to AWT events. If they had made it all events, you wouldn't even
have to build that.
Now, don't get me wrong... Forte is planning to incorporate lots of really
cool Java stuff in their next release (preannounced at FORUM). But to me,
that's not the issue on a larger scale. The real issue is this: are
environments which are cheaper incorporating a lot of what Forte does - and
the answer is Yes! Incidentally, there is a version of the Java environment
being developed for Linux under the GNU license, for the express purpose of
making it open and keeping it free (and open). Someone recently told me
that it is now available, but I haven't confirmed that yet.
In GERMANY I know that Mercedes use LINUX for car-development and
Sixt-Budget use LINUX for their car-rental (worldwide).My perception is that the Europeans are more progressive and cooperative
than us in the states. Most of the really good Linux help I've gotten on
the net has been form Europe (including a wonderful sendmail
site/expert). :-)
I think, if Forte is availaible for LINUX than a big beng goes through
the IT-Market. Many firms just wait for a OO-orientated 4GL-Development
environment to distribute their business-processes to many little
servers which are cheap and powerfull. It is than a question of
less money to use a big machine or just 10 or 20 LINUX servers (which are
cheaper and faster).Well, as I was indicating above, people who are cost conscious might be
searching for lower cost alternatives to Forte itself.
Sorry for my enthusiasm on this mailing list, but i'am
so happy to hear from this and want's to cry it out all over the world:-)))))
<soapbox>
So, who says that all reactions have to be between 4 & 6 (5 being
neutral)!! Don't apologize. If you're excited - be excited! That's what
life is all about.
</soapbox>
Stephen