LINUX TIPS AND TRICKS --- December 15, 2000

Published by ITworld.com, the IT problem-solving network
http://www.itworld.com/newsletters

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SQL Databases
By Danny Kalev

This week's newsletter includes a quick overview of available 
Relational Database Management Systems (RDBMS) for Linux that will help 
you find a database that suits your needs, budget, and personal taste.

MySQL            www.mysql.com
One of the most popular RDBMS for Linux, MySQL is free for 
noncommercial use and offers high performance and reliability. 

    Pros: Still behind first league products 
    Cons: Fast, easy to use

GNU SQL                  www.ispras.ru/~kml/gss
A multi-user RDBMS with client/server architecture. Offers basic 
administration operations.

    Pros: Open Source, portable, 
    Cons: Still a beta, certainly not for time-critical systems

PostgresSQL        www.postgresql.org
PostgresSQL is based on an RDBMS engine developed at Berkeley. Linux 
versions of PostgresSQL are included in Red Hat, Debian, and Slackware 
distributions. 

    Pros: Free, Open Source, minimal installation requirements
    Cons: Unsuitable for large-scale systems.

Oracle           www.oracle.com
The truth must be told: Although it's not an Open Source product nor 
is it free, Oracle is unbeatable by any other RDBMS in terms of 
scalability, redundancy, fault-tolerance, security.

    Pros: The Rolls Royce of RDBMS, excellent Internet interfacing,
          internationalized
    Cons: Expensive, resource hungry, overkill for small databases

Informix                 www.informix.com/linux
Once upon a time, Informix was the uncrowned king of Unix databases. 
Although in recent years it has lost some of its royal luster, Informix 
now offers tight commitment to Linux. Informix SE is a fast, reliable, 
and friendly database for Linux. Informix 4GL offers a complete IDE + a 
library called C-ISAM for index sequential data access.

    Cons: Includes special libraries and tools, minimal database
          administration
    Pros: Not free, a bit old-fashioned

Sybase           www.sybase.com/linux
Sybase offers several free products for Linux. The Sybase Enterprise 
Database offers data integration that coordinates all information 
resources on a network. SQL Anywhere is a lightweight RDBMS designed 
for compact databases.

    Pros: Support various types of users and needs
    Cons: Some of the products aren't free; some libraries are 
          unsupported 

DB2               www.software.ibm.com/data/db2/linux 
DB2 was originally a mainframe database. Recently it was ported to 
Linux. It's scalable, expandable, supports Perl and offers an interface 
for Web browser administration.

    Pros: Internet functionality, customizable
    Cons: Feels and looks like a mainframe database, not free

Ingres II         www.ingres.com
Ingres is not the latest word in the industry, but it's one of my 
favorites. It's easy to use and maintain, and supports both C and Perl. 
Pros: Supports Binary Large Objects and Internet publishing Cons: 
antiquated, not free.


About the author(s)
----------------
Danny Kalev is a system analyst and software engineer with more than 10 
years of experience, specializing in C++ and object-oriented analysis 
and design on various platforms including VMS, DOS, Windows, Unix, and 
Linux. His technical interests involve code optimization, networking, 
and distributed computing. He is also a member of the ANSI C++ 
standardization committee and the author of ANSI/ISO C++ Professional 
Programmer's Handbook (Que, 1999). Contact him at linuxnl@excite.com. 

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ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

Open source databases 
Performance comparable to commercial databases -- and prices 100 
percent lower 
http://www.itworld.com/jlw/lintps_nl/lw-2000-05/lw-05-database.html

IBM's DB2 Universal Database 7.1 for Linux shines 
IBM gets it right this time 
http://www.itworld.com/jlw/lintps_nl/lw-2000-09/lw-09-db2_p.html

A practical guide to Oracle8i for Linux 
One of the buggiest, quirkiest programs our hero has ever met 
http://www.itworld.com/jlw/lintps_nl/lw-2000-04/lw-04-oracle8i_p.html

Unix, or Linux: That is the question 
And where are the open source databases? 
http://www.itworld.com/jlw/lintps_nl/lw-2000-09/lw-09-geek_2.html

Informix updates parallel database server 
New features include role-based resource allocation and support for XA-
based transactions 
http://www.itworld.com/jitw/lintps_nl/cma/ett_article_frame/0,2848,1_2290,00.html

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COMMUNITY DISCUSSIONS

Hone your Linux development skills, share your expertise, and put out 
the occasional call for help in this discussion for programmers of all 
levels. Moderated by Danny Kalev. 
http://www.itworld.com/jump/lintps_nl/forums.itworld.com/webx?14@@.ee6b652/200!skip=144

Linux is making its presence felt on the desktop, but is it stable and 
polished enough for prime time? Talk distributions, window managers, 
themes, and desktop politics here. 
http://www.itworld.com/jump/lintps_nl/forums.itworld.com/webx?14@@.ee6b663/311!skip=253

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