Re: GNOME Database Kit Part II

[Adam Keys <adam pingpage com>]

> And then we have to write specialized drivers that use your API if we
> want to connect databases to gnome?

Writing the 'drivers' will be trivial.  The drivers will use the API provided by
the database vendor. 

> If you use ODBC, then gnome apps will likely be able to connect to
> Oracle,
> Informix, and all the other new databases that are starting to support
> linux.

I hadn't thought about supporting commercial databases, but I can see the
importance.

> How much harder can it possibly be to use ODBC than to roll your own
> database
> API?  It sounds like NIH to me.
 
> Somebody even said there was an ODBC development kit out from
> Microsoft.  That would certainly help you a little.

The licensing on ODBC and Microsoft could get tricky.
 
> It just seems dumb to come up with a new API and then expect database
> vendors to support something new.  They're not going to do it.  They'll
> probably do ODBC
> drivers, but it's doubtful they'll write drivers for your API.

It'd be nice if the database vendors right their own drivers for whatever we do,
but I had envisioned someone in the gnome community writing a driver for
Commercial DBMS X. 

> A better compromise might be to come up with some middleware.  Gnome
> apps can use
> your API to talk to a server process, which then translates the requests
> into
> ODBC requests.  That way you get to have a simple API for Gnome apps to
> use, but
> you'll also get ODBC connectivity.

I like this idea as a middleground/compromise thing.  CORBA could come into play
somewhere with this idea.  Any ODBC gods out there?

Thanks,
Adam Keys