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that SAP DB isn't supported out of the box by Java, Perl, or PHP, etc. but one quick glance shows they support Perl through DBD::ODBC, have an ODBC driver suitable for PHP, and supply a JDBC driver for Java programs.

so now i'm wondering what the catch is. too big? bloated? slow?

well, the minimum requirements on Linux list a base memory footprint of 128 MB. MySQL runs on just about the smallest box you own, and most people tinkering with MySQL are on budgets of $0, meaning, no new bigger boxes for a long, long time.

Firebird is sweet too.

If you're not restricted to using MySQL there are quite a few other options available, give it a try !

Then you probably should be using PostgreSQL...

Or you may want to look at SAP DB.

It's free, open source, comes with an unlimited license and has the support and backing of one of the largest enterprise application comapnies.

It runs on most platforms including Linux, Solaris, other *NIX, and Windows. It has interfaces for C/C++, Java, Perl, ODBC, Python, and PHP.

You benifit from a proven, highly scalable, SQL compliant database that continues to be developed and maintained by an actual company which gets revenue from paying customers who use its other non-free products which are built on top of SAP DB.

SAP made it open source because they feel, "...that times have changed, that databases are becoming part of the basic technology infrastructure, and as such, they need not be proprietary or complex. SAP sees that the time is right to drive open-source development of database technology and contribute to this effort by making SAP DB Open Source. Open-source development is revolutionizing the way software is created, as shown by the success of Linux, and SAP - which is already providing the first comprehensive e-business solution on Linux - wants to encourage this development."

Other than Oracle and Postgresql, I don't think any other database uses MVCC.

Postgresql is BSD style (do what you will) while SAP was released under the GPL.

• Platform independence: SAP DB supports Windows better than PostgreSQL does. They both have good support for unices of various flavors.
• Concurrency: Both databases support ACID transactions. PostgreSQL uses multi-version concurrency control so reads and writes won't interfere with each other, while SAP DB uses row-level locking. In this respect, PostgreSQL v. SAP DB is similar to Oracle v. DB2.
• Curriculum vitae: PostgreSQL originated at Berkeley, and has very cool features like MVCC and functional indexes. SAP DB descends from Adabas D, which was marketed as the PC-sized little brother of Adabas for mainframes, and SAP's focus is on providing robust support for business applications such as SAP's customer-relations and supply-chain products.
• Developers: PostgreSQL is developed by a global community of volunteers. SAP DB is developed by a team of employees (FAQ says 100) in a major software company. Development of both products is active.

I read the FAQ, and I must say it interests me quite a bit.

Anyone tried this?

JPerrin

First off, I am just getting around to trying this myself so I'm only posting this as a try it yourself

Check out SapDB.org. Dell has a benchmark test posted. Note that this was v6.2 of SapDb and it is now v7.3.

The documentation is exhaustive. Oh GPL'd also. It has something called the Oracle 7 compatibility mode whatever that is, personally I don't care about that.

I have scoured google and can't find much about if from other users. I even have tried Ask Slashdot but they won't put up my post for some reason. I really wish they would.

First off, I am just getting around to trying this myself so I'm only posting this as a try it yourself

Check out SapDB.org. Dell has a benchmark test posted. Note that this was v6.2 of SapDb and it is now v7.3.

The documentation is exhaustive. Oh GPL'd also. It has something called the Oracle 7 compatibility mode whatever that is, personally I don't care about that.

I have scoured google and can't find much about if from other users. I even have tried Ask Slashdot but they won't put up my post for some reason. I really wish they would.

The price of Access looks small when you compare it to a real database.

How do you figure?

Access License: $250.00

MySQL License: FREE

PostgreSQL License: FREE

SAP DB License: FREE

Firebird License: FREE

You forgot about SapDB. It's their database system. It's completely GPL for the server and LGPL for the clients. It works great and is *COMPLETE*. I really don't understand why this product isn't given any more attention in the Open Source press.

I can confirm that SAP DB is included in SuSE 7.3...

You can get more info at http://www.sapdb.org

Maybe give SapDB a try? It's Open Source, stable and definately not a toy. I don't know how it compares to Oracle or Sybase, though (since I haven't used it yet:P).

It wouldn't have happened if they'd used a proper database. SAP DB is OSS now, and they're using MySQL??!!

A lot of commercial apps have plugins for whatever DB you want to use. Once they wise up and provide plugins for DBs like RedHat DB, Postgres, MySQL and so on, we'll start to see higher market saturation.

The second thing which will help is when we get more commercial apps ported to Linux.

This is already happening. The product I use every day - SAP is available (commercially) for Linux. They support all the big DB vendors including Oracle, MSSQL (ok, not on Linux), Informix, DB2, and their own (open source) database SAPDB.
I'm doing my bit, my site runs on PHP/MySQL.

This aren't exactly news, the sources were released on February 26th.
More info can be found at www.sapdb.org

anyone looked at SAPDB by SAP ?

They claim Enterprise strength, Free and source available April 2001

Binaries available now at www.sapdb.org