old-guard commercial-grade databases
Database customers living in "a miserable world for the last couple of decades"?
Most of what I know about databases (which is not much) I learned while working with one specific ERP application as it has evolved.
It started out with Unidata (HPUX) in the 80's, moved to OpenEdge(Windows) in the 90's and finally switched to MS SQL around 2010.
Along the way I formed my very subjective opinions about each..
- Unidata was the hardest to use but use of disk space was efficient, it could scale up and still run fast, required little maintenance and licensing was simple.
- OpenEdge was a little easier to use, took up more disk space, ran slower, was low maintenance with straightforward licensing.
- MS SQL easiest to use, more disk space and slower, higher maintenance and licensing is a real pain. (and more likely to run into weird issues).
Where generally I like MS SQL while I'm working with data, as an end user.. but as an admin, dislike everything about it.
On the other hand, I really appreciated the ease of maintaining OpenEdge, and using it was "somewhat acceptable".
When looking back on Unidata today, I'm in awe of it's speed/efficiency... and I wonder "what if" it had just been a little easier to use?
Biting the hand that feeds IT
