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I have run it on Linux and NT for the past 6 months. I built a real estate lease entry and tracking system using Interbase, PHP, and Apache. It does support full transactions. It does support full FKs. I don't know how it compares to PostgreSQL, but PG was not an option as the client only has NT for the server.

If find the big support for MySQL somewhat surprising. When I'm running a RDBMS, I want stability, even if it happen to be a commercial or a open source one.

MySQL have for many years been been considered as a very unstable product and that it have been (still are probably) lacking a lot of really useful features.

In the open source world, I find two RDBMS especially good. PostgreSQL and Interbase. They are both fine products and probably near commercial grade RDBMS standard.

So even if MySQL is now considered stable. So what? We have other choices, which have been developed with great care for many years and have been added features from their stability, not the opposite.

So in my humble opinion, if you want to run anything (semi)serious, definately do not run MySQL, there are MUCH better options out there.

Here's the specifications for Interbase: http://www.interbase.com/open/research/tech_specs. html Maximum size of database: 32TB using multiple files; largest recorded InterBase database in production is over 200GB Maximum size of one file: 4GB on most platforms; 2GB on some platforms Maximum number of tables: 64K Tables Maximum size of one table: 32TB Maximum number of rows per table: 4G Rows Maximum row size: 64KB Maximum number of columns per table: Depends on the datatypes you use. (Example: 16,384 INTEGER (4 byte) values per row.) Maximum number of indexes per table: 64K indexes Maximum number of indexes per database: 4G indexes

"Fat, drunk, and stupid is no way to go through life."

I could not use PostGreSQL because it does not run on NT (client only has NT server and does not want a Linux box for this system). I don't know much about PG, so I don't know how good it is.

I did not use MySQL even though I have run it on Linux and NT for these reasons:

• No transactions (could not wait for MaxSQL before implementation).
• No integrity constraints. Unfortunately, data entry systems require integrity constraints and the attitude of the MySQL developers is IMHO assinine. I have worked on databases with and without integrity constraints and in my experience, the data is always worse in databases where the philosophy is to 'let the database developers' deal with it.
• Unlike MySQL, PG, and most databases, in Interbase, writers never block readers. Check the product overview for details.

Interbase may not have industrial strength for massive number of concurrent users, but this particular implementation is a data entry, low volume system. I cannot personally attest to the viability of Interbase in a large number of users.

Concerning the 'opennes' of Interbase, the source is released, there are no restrictions and this database is not going anywhere soon. The main problem is that Inprise's release of the source left a bad taste in the mouths of free software advocates. This issues have been remedied and they have delivered on their promise to release the source.

Check Interbase out, you'll be surprized.

"Fat, drunk, and stupid is no way to go through life."

I haven't had time to evaluate it myself, either. Anybody out there used it?

I haven't had time to evaluate it myself, either. Anybody out there used it?

Strong data typing is for those with weak minds.

Why not use a real RDBMS like Borland InterBase. </flamebait>

.. and yes; it is opensource.. :)

In the even more ancient past (which is really quite some time ago; possibly before some readers were born!), the mainframe-based R/2 system was able to use Adabas on mainframes.

If SAP DB is GPLed (or LGPLed), this is a very interesting thing, probably moreso than the "freeing" of Interbase, as Adabas-D was more like a "scaled down mainframe system" than like a "scaled up PC system."

Another interesting property of Adabas-D that is hopefully inherited by "Free-SAP-DB" is that it provides an Oracle SQL compatibility mode that tries hard to provide equivalent functionality to Oracle... Probably useful for porting Oracle apps over to it...

Although they are only the beta version. ftp://ftp2.interbase.c om/pub/products/beta6.0/ib_b60_doc.zip

About 10 meg, PDF format.

Mirrored at Interbase2000.org

Greetings,
*whispering tone* Interbase...

I like MySQL, but that's because it's a brutally simple entry-level RDBMS. They're adding all the stuff they 'left out' (including the GPL license!), but if I were to look for a hefty and serious free DB right now, I'd go with Interbase.

Cyberfox!

Interbase documentaion is available from ftp://ftp2.interbase.c om/pub/products/beta6.0/ib_b60_doc.zip

It's in PDF, from memory.

Since IB6 is a new animal from a new company, the effort seems to have been getting the program ready. Documentation seems a bit dated at the moment, but there seems to be an effort to remedy this deficiency.

There are references to sample code, utilites and support groups on the interbase website Interbase

And don't worry about InterBase developer community either: take a look at the www.interbase2000.com to see how it's organized and how you can contribute.

http://www.interbase.com/op en/research/ib_overview.html

I found myself wondering exactly what Interbase could do for me

So I dug through their site (not hard to find) and found this lil gem

Interbase Product Overview

Interbase has some very awesome features. The overview took the tone of a semi marketing type item yet it was infomrative and if you read through some of the garbage its rather clear to see as a programmer/developer what Interbase offers.

Some of the features that stuck out in my mind from the over view.

-Small memory footprint
-Triggers
-Stored Procedures
-User Definable Functions with some 'libraries' per say already defined for math and string handling
-Alert events
EX:A certain item goes below xyz dollars it can send an alert using some sort of constant polling method. I am not sure exactly what this one was.. but basically it looks like whenever changes are done to the table if certain criteria are met it can call up a stored proc/UDF or something. This is a bit more powerful than a trigger or a stored procedure since you do not have to do any speical coding on a insert/update/delete.

Some other interesting things... There was a *LOAD* of case studies on the interbase site.

Case Studies

I looked at some of these and they were real industry proven case studies IMO.

Its Free.. and it has a good reputation

You can buy support for it

It appears to be VERY ANSI Compliant and supports all the trappings of MS SQL Server..

It also claimed to be self optimizing... anyways hope this provided a little information.

Jeremy


If you think education is expensive, try ignornace

There is no per-user costs for Interbase 6.0. According to their new license, you are free to distribute and modify the database.

Interbase does provide optional support contracts. Last I looked it was US$100 for 30 days of installation support, US$250 per support incident, or US$3150 per year for unlimited support.

Refer to Interbase.com for more details.

--

There is no per-user costs for Interbase 6.0. According to their new license, you are free to distribute and modify the database.

Interbase does provide optional support contracts. Last I looked it was US$100 for 30 days of installation support, US$250 per support incident, or US$3150 per year for unlimited support.

Refer to Interbase.com for more details.

--

As far as I'm concerned, InterBase is a pretty good piece of software. In my experiences with it, it's always performed up to expectations and it does everything I've ever needed it to do. I'm not saying it's right for everyone, but definitely check it out if you haven't done so yet.

If, on the other hand, you're already a devoted or knowledgable user, make sure you visit the Interbase developer's handbook. It's a worthwhile project that could use your help.

I'm excited about this version of Interbase. (Insofar as one can conceivably be exciting about a database -- sign of a true geek, huh?)

yours,
john

I wonder how many people know about InterBase. This fast, full-featured RDMS is becoming open-source. Go to InterBase, download the beta version of 6.0, and check it out.
Honestly, I cannot imagine what mySQL could have over InterBase.

Could we talk about Interbase as well? Even though its source is not yet available, it is expected soon under an MPL-like license (the IPL).

Could we talk about Interbase as well? Even though its source is not yet available, it is expected soon under an MPL-like license (the IPL).

The 'free-as-in-speech' RDBMS arena has another contender, Interbase.

While it is licensed under the IPL (an MPL derived license) and not the GPL, it is nevertheless a free software RDBMS.

This three-way race should prove interesting.
--

Well, with Interbase, it COULD have ended up as "abandonware," as it had been pushed pretty far down on the priorities list at Inprise. Now, however, it's anything but. Inprise has formed a spin-off company (along with some VC money) to support and develop it further. Now Interbase is getting the publicity, development support, and openness that it needed all along. Version 6 should be a huge improvement, especially on Linux (which is now a primary development platform, rather than an afterthought).

--JRZ

The fact that Oracle licensing fees are more blatantly large makes it rather clearer that Oracle is out to Take Care Of Your Money (by putting it in their bank account!), which shows off the clear need to periodically use other vendors' DBMSes.

The other fortunate thing is that Oracle primarily is connected to selling Big Databases, which is something that only people with big chequebooks tend to get involved with.

There is not any reasonable likelihood of any of the "libre" options ( e.g. - PostgreSQL, InterBase, MySQL, ... becoming reasonable alternatives at the Big Iron / Enterprise end of things any time soon, although they may become quite reasonable choices for "small, departmental" applications.

All you need to do is to look at the licensing of Designer 2000 and see how while the fees may rise exponentially, this results in a die-off of deployment amongst anyone that doesn't have deep pockets...

Interbase is open sourced and is available today.

If you look at their web site, here's what they've got to say:

InterBase Software is scheduled to release InterBase 6.0 for Linux, Windows and Solaris in open source format this summer.

BTW, I've been eavesdropping on the postgresql hackers mailing list, and their estimate is that Interbase is slightly better than postgresql, but they expect that postgresql will be as good or better in the near future, e.g. around release 7.1. I think that "outer joins" is the key feature that needs to be added.

Interbase is an ex-proprietry database solution which is (we hope) becoming open source. It runs under Linux, and Win32. In a recent Linux Care poll it came top of the list of databases for most, if not all areas. It already has a solid userbase including NASA, Boeing, and is even used in the M-1 Abrams Tank.

Granted, the source has not seen the light of day, but 'should' be on its way soon.

Interbase provides a very firm stand point launch the open source development. There is an open source documentation project underway Links :
Interbase Homepage
Developer Initiative site

Interbase is open sourced and is available today. It lacks a few things (notably a pure java JDBC driver) but is otherwise quite functional. Check it out at http://www.interbase.com/.

If you want a database that comes close to SQLServer or Oracle, and is free, use Postgres.

Actually, you should use Interbase. PostgreSQL is a SQL layered on Postgres. It doesn't implement nearly as full a subset of the ANSI SQL standard as Interbase does, for example: select-driven inserts. PostgreSQL is also fairly large and complicated to use, and has a lot of non-SQL features.

Anyway, my question is, is there a fully-featured open source RDBMS out there? Your help is appreciated

What you are looking for is Interbase.

1. Have you used any of the Open Source databases like MySQL or Postgres enough to recommend one of them for a light-usage site?

   Or perhaps none of the Open Source databases are yet ready for production use?

   Phillip:

   I talk about this a bit in http://photo.net/wtr/aolserver/introduction-2.html .

   The bottom line is that for people who care about data integrity, concurrency, and 24x7 redundant operation, there really is not an adequate substitute for commercial RDBMes (even the commercial object database companies haven't been able to make any headway against the heavy-duty RDBMS systems).

The implication here is ominous to me, in that he seems to be implying that someone interested in building a community oriented site shouldn't even bother trying to use an Open Source RDBMS.

I know that what he says is true about MySQL (for lack of transaction support, and the fact that it isn't truly Free) and PostgreSQL isn't yet 100% SQL2-compliant, but is it possible that

1. a. One of these could be adapted to be more fitting for these types of applications? or,

2. b. Borland/Inprise Interbase 6.0 could be appropriate?

It is fully GPL'ed, fully SQL2-compliant, and very fully-featured compared to the alternatives. It is somewhat slower than PostgreSQL (and much slower than MySQL, of course) with more simultaneous connections, but if we could garner enough support from the Open Source community to build a decent threading mechanism, I think it could easily beat PostgreSQL in the long run. It woulde be incredibly useful to have an Open Source alternative to Oracle.

There are other features that would probably take some time to hack together to make Interbase 6.0 competitive with Oracle, but if everybody just takes Phillip's advice (no offense, Phillip, I agree with 95% of what you say) instead of helping to develop alternative tools, we will never have an option at all.

Just my two cents.

You're looking for InterBase. While it's not yet Open Source, IB 6.0 will be released under MPL 1.1. While they sanitize their code, you can get free (beer) beta releases of InterBase 6.0 for Linux, Windows, or Solaris from http://www.interbase.com at http:// www.interbase. com/open/downloads/60beta_downloads.html. There are RPMs and Tarballs there, and Debian packages are forthcoming.

You can also check out the community springing up around InterBase at http://www.interbase2000.org.

From my own personal experience with InterBase, I can tell you that it is most certainly an enterprise-grade database, with amazing speeds and all the features you could ask of a modern DB.

You're looking for InterBase. While it's not yet Open Source, IB 6.0 will be released under MPL 1.1. While they sanitize their code, you can get free (beer) beta releases of InterBase 6.0 for Linux, Windows, or Solaris from http://www.interbase.com at http:// www.interbase. com/open/downloads/60beta_downloads.html. There are RPMs and Tarballs there, and Debian packages are forthcoming.

You can also check out the community springing up around InterBase at http://www.interbase2000.org.

From my own personal experience with InterBase, I can tell you that it is most certainly an enterprise-grade database, with amazing speeds and all the features you could ask of a modern DB.

Interbase is a RDBMS, and it is free (beer) now and will be Open Source (MPL) soon (June).

Interbase v6 is in (free beer) beta right now, and will be released under the MPL (Mozilla Public Licence) by Mid-June

You can download the beta now for Linux, Windows or Solaris from Interbase.com or The Interbase Developers Inititive

Supports databases up to 32 TB (!!!) spread over 2GB files and is fast and reliable. (It's been around for 15 years.) The biggest known Interbase DB is over 200GB.

It's is ANSI 92 SQL compliant (well.. as compliant as any DB I've ever seen - better than Oracle for instance), and the support is Amazing

Join the email lists at www.mers.com, and you'll be able to get answers from Ann Harrison (the president of Interbase.com), or from a lot of other people - it's the best support I've even seen.

As for enterpise features - well, apart from large DB support, it has row level locking, transactions, referential integrity, blobs, Multi-Generational commits, stored procedures... ummm... I can't think of what else to say.

Basically, if your Databases are less than 50GB then Interbase is the number 1 choice - above that maybe Oracle would be better, but that isn't exacly open source.

Inprise Offers InterBase 6.0 - Linux for Public Field Test

InterBase 6.0 for Linux now available for download on InterBase web site. (www.interbase.com)

SCOTTS VALLEY, Calif., March 8th, 2000 -- Inprise Corporation (Nasdaq: INPR) today announced a public field test of InterBase 6.0 for the Linux operating system now available as a download from the InterBase web site, http://www.interbase.com/open/downloads/linux60bet a.html

Two years have gone by since InterBase 4.0 was originally released as freeware for Linux. Following on from recent announcements regarding the open-sourcing of InterBase 6.0, the new version of its cross-platform relational database - Interbase would like all interested parties to freely download and test this latest version of InterBase for Linux. Any feedback on this new version can be sent to ib_support@inprise.com or alternatively users are encouraged to participate in the field test newsgroups

Other field test versions of InterBase 6.0 for Windows, Solaris and CPM will be made publicly available shortly.

About InterBase 6
InterBase 6.0 is a powerful, high-performance cross-platform relational database designed for business-critical, mobile computing and Internet-based applications on Linux, Windows NT, Solaris, and other UNIX operating systems. Since 1985, InterBase has provided technologically superior relational database solutions to meet the business-critical database needs of numerous companies such as Nokia, Ericsson, MCI, Northern Telecom, Bear Stearns, the Money Store, the US Army, NASA, and Rob Schieck's mers.com web site. Through its ease of use, maintainability, simplified deployment and small footprint, InterBase has become the preferred embedded database solution.

The Linux and Inprise development community tells us that this release of InterBase is one of the best things that has happened to them this week. There is no doubt that InterBase and Linux are a perfect fit, because both are known for stability and reliability combined with absolute zero cost of ownership," said Markus Kemper, Director of the Mustang 5.0 Ownership Club at InterBase.

About Inprise/Borland
Inprise Corporation is a leading provider of Internet-enabling software and services that reduce the complexity of application development for corporations and individual programmers. Inprise delivers integrated, scalable and secure solutions distinguished for their ease of use, performance and productivity. Committed to open platforms, Inprise continues its tradition of service and support for millions of software developers around the world through its online developer community and E-commerce site http://community.borland.com providing a range of technical information, value-added services and third-party products. Founded in 1983, Inprise is headquartered in Scotts Valley, California, with operations worldwide.

InterBase: the OPEN source database (minus the source)
Spamming for karma. If AC's do it, then karma whores cant. penix penix penix.

Inprise Offers InterBase 6.0 - Linux for Public Field Test

InterBase 6.0 for Linux now available for download on InterBase web site. (www.interbase.com)

SCOTTS VALLEY, Calif., March 8th, 2000 -- Inprise Corporation (Nasdaq: INPR) today announced a public field test of InterBase 6.0 for the Linux operating system now available as a download from the InterBase web site, http://www.interbase.com/open/downloads/linux60bet a.html

Two years have gone by since InterBase 4.0 was originally released as freeware for Linux. Following on from recent announcements regarding the open-sourcing of InterBase 6.0, the new version of its cross-platform relational database - Interbase would like all interested parties to freely download and test this latest version of InterBase for Linux. Any feedback on this new version can be sent to ib_support@inprise.com or alternatively users are encouraged to participate in the field test newsgroups

Other field test versions of InterBase 6.0 for Windows, Solaris and CPM will be made publicly available shortly.

About InterBase 6
InterBase 6.0 is a powerful, high-performance cross-platform relational database designed for business-critical, mobile computing and Internet-based applications on Linux, Windows NT, Solaris, and other UNIX operating systems. Since 1985, InterBase has provided technologically superior relational database solutions to meet the business-critical database needs of numerous companies such as Nokia, Ericsson, MCI, Northern Telecom, Bear Stearns, the Money Store, the US Army, NASA, and Rob Schieck's mers.com web site. Through its ease of use, maintainability, simplified deployment and small footprint, InterBase has become the preferred embedded database solution.

The Linux and Inprise development community tells us that this release of InterBase is one of the best things that has happened to them this week. There is no doubt that InterBase and Linux are a perfect fit, because both are known for stability and reliability combined with absolute zero cost of ownership," said Markus Kemper, Director of the Mustang 5.0 Ownership Club at InterBase.

About Inprise/Borland
Inprise Corporation is a leading provider of Internet-enabling software and services that reduce the complexity of application development for corporations and individual programmers. Inprise delivers integrated, scalable and secure solutions distinguished for their ease of use, performance and productivity. Committed to open platforms, Inprise continues its tradition of service and support for millions of software developers around the world through its online developer community and E-commerce site http://community.borland.com providing a range of technical information, value-added services and third-party products. Founded in 1983, Inprise is headquartered in Scotts Valley, California, with operations worldwide.

InterBase: the OPEN source database (minus the source)
Spamming for karma. If AC's do it, then karma whores cant. penix penix penix.

Firstly, they aren't Inprise any more - they are dropping that name (at last!) in the merger with Corel. Infact, you could actually buy the Inprise sign on Ebay - it might still be there.

Secondly, Borland is considering open-sourceing more of its stuff. They are already releasing Interbase under the MPL (see www.interbase.com) and in a recent interview in the Linux Journal, Dale Fuller said they were considering what they shoudl open source with the release of Kylix (Delphi/C++ Builder for Linux). This MAY EVEN INCLUDE THE VCL. That woudl be really, really cool.

In one of link at Interbase web site, there's a page about a "Patented support of data". How will this affect the open sourcing?

Interbase runs on Linux as well. It's limited to 32 TB though.

Borland deserves some credits from us Linux folks. I've always had good times with Borland tools - from Turbo C coding in old DOS days till these days.

Now I wonder what their current relationship with InterBase (Inprise?) is. As far as I know, InterBase grew out of an independent team of programmers long ago before Borland came to scene. Or am I wrong?

This way or that way, Linux developers should really take a look into InterBase DBMS. BTW, they still offer (oldish) 4.0 for Linux free of charge. Combined with the open-sourced AOLserver (see previous Slashdot story) with AOLserver driver for InterBase, it can be helluva web/db application tool.

Borland deserves some credits from us Linux folks. I've always had good times with Borland tools - from Turbo C coding in old DOS days till these days.

Now I wonder what their current relationship with InterBase (Inprise?) is. As far as I know, InterBase grew out of an independent team of programmers long ago before Borland came to scene. Or am I wrong?

This way or that way, Linux developers should really take a look into InterBase DBMS. BTW, they still offer (oldish) 4.0 for Linux free of charge. Combined with the open-sourced AOLserver (see previous Slashdot story) with AOLserver driver for InterBase, it can be helluva web/db application tool.