Slashdot Mirror
Rekall Now Available Under GPL
Karma Sucks writes "Rekall is one of those killer apps alongside Scribus, Evolution, OpenOffice and Mozilla that could make all the difference for Linux desktop productivity. For those of you not in the know, Rekall is a RAD DBMS similar to MS Access or Paradox and has now been GPL'ed by theKompany. Community development and organization is to take place on rekallrevealed.org."
we get a story about something called "Rekall".
Coincidence? I think not.
cool! MSAccess like functionality was my answer to the OpenOffice registration survey question "what is missing from OpenOffice?"
Now that this is out, do we all have to wait 5 years for businesses to think we've got 5 years' experience with it, or can we convince them that it's similar enough to MS Access, etc that our experience translates? ... btw, anyone else noticed how annoyingly hard it is to convince people that your experience translates over? With a product like this, I should hope it would be obvious.
stuff |
I seem to "Rekall" seeing this before.
good thing it's not a car; otherwise, the company would have some serious problems with marketing and sales...
Like, isn't that for us to determine, you know? I mean, they say it's RAD, for sure. But what if, like, I don't agree?
= 9J =
So now we know that Arnold's governorship is imaginary, because we can audit the source code.
if (choice == "brunette" && bPowerTrip) { EnableGovernorMod(); } (If you're going to mod this offtopic, this is a sad moviegeek attempt at a obscure reference)
There are a huge number of yeast infections in this county. Probably because we're downriver from the bread factory.
is it reekall or reckall?
I work for a fairly large pharmaceutical firm here in Florida and I have to say that ReckAll has exceeded all of our expections. We feel confident that this product can replace M$ Access and Borland JQueryBuilder on our analyst's workstations. One of the best features is its MiniSQL scripting language which reduces the SQL query syntax substantially. Mind you, we've only seen the demos by the local vendor but it is really promising.
In regards to connecting to legacy data warehouses we're quite impressed. We have CP/M database that runs under Sinclair's Relation Database Format (RDF) which contains about 20 Gigs of UK customer data. We found that RekAl could extract the necessary reports in about half the time.
We're compiling our findings and will present our findings to our director in the next couple months. Knowing how keen he is on low-cost Open Source solutions, I'm sure we'll deploy through the organization.
Which is nice.
Maybe the community can ehance this GPL software by thinking up a better name!
Its never obvious to shit-for-brains-bowhead-preppie-blondie-the-HR-gir l Kelli and her soccer-mom-liberal-arts-degree-SUV-drivin-shithead HR manager Vicki.
--
om Shanti
Do a nice thing for the community, get your site nuked by a slashdotting :\
Can't we stick with posting links to SCO? They deserve this kind of treatment, whilst theKompany are pretty cool. (Especially if you own a Zaurus - tkcRom rocks.)
Beep beep.
check the end of the second paragraph
"I know it sounds crazy, but I went to this Rekall place after work, and..."
"You went to those brain butchers?!"
"I would say that 99 per cent of what my father has written about his own life is false." - L. Ron Hubbard Jr.
With PHP and XML, I don't really see why we need another database front end. What is it that makes this a "Killer App"? I don't see it.
Office suite apps are great, but all I ever hear
is "There's no Exchange-Calendar equivalent for
non-Windows environments!"
Eh?
keeping Michael Sims' mouth and anus full of steaming, brackish cum.
Wrong, it's redundant. Everyone knows about this about Michael.
Am I the only one to find these two descriptions of these women very hot?
Second paragraph last line, makes the whole post suspect.
none too soon, that's for sure.
just to be clear:
we can buy/download any distribution/application. then, make as many copies as we want, & share them with our friends, & god forbid, sell/service them to our customers, without having any further payper liesense/monetary obligations to any of the nearly extinct softwar gangsters???
no wonder all the hooplah.
Maybe it's the line about the cum in the anus...
Don't forget the upcoming Outlook clone, Kontact. And the exchange compatible server, Kolab.
They should call this release "TheKrash"
20 replies and the server is off to la la land.
Linux O Muerte!
I have to say that ReckAll has exceeded all of our expections
*snip*
we've only seen the demos by the local vendor but it is really promising.
Dude, have I got a bridge for you! Only slightly used.
An Ms Access alternative was the last app I needed to be able to switch to Mac OS X. Being able to remotely query and update Oracle and Sql Server databases is quite important for my work. I'm glad to hear progress is being made on this front. If this can be integrated with spreadsheet programs, a great deal of "data analyst" type work will be made easier on UNIX platforms.
ummm... PHP and XML are not a RAD database. I have not looked at it yet but one thing that Access makes easy is setting simple databases. There are tons of simple form/database/report apps writen in Access.
XML???? What the heck it is not the great golden bullet. PHP is great but you still need a database backed.
See my blog http://ilovecookes.blogspot.com/ for light hearted technical information.
See here.
:)
Cool, it has a proper report designer and scripting. Not your average lame db frontend
Am I a hipster-doofus?
This is meant to be totally community driven and oriented just as Michael Sims' prolapsed rectum os driven by all in his own community
Informative? YHBT Matey.
US Democracy:The best person for the job (among These pre-selected choices...)
Some people are idiots!
I'm tired, pardon my franch.
I know its been said before but, this is a step in the right direction for the open source desktop movement. In order for mainstream businesses to adopt linux, there NEEDS to be a M$ Access alternative available. Right now there isn't anything that even comes close, and that is a major reason why many people don't even try out linux on the desktop.
I hope that eventually, Rekall will come bundled with mysql and that it will resemble an access type application. I think that if this happens it could be a very strong alternative to Access.
In linux libertas
Well, if OpenOffice counts as a killer app, qualifying isn't really all that hard.
(Why do I say that? A week or two ago, I tried out my shiny new 1.1 installation. I don't need Powerpoint, I said to myself, I've got this much-lauded free alternative. Inside of five minutes (not counting the startup time!), I found two major bugs (arrowheads drawn as big squares, slides that lost all their text when rearranged in Outline mode) and one major inconvenience for interoperability (can't read Visio drawings) The bugs aren't even subtle or hard to reproduce. Apparently no one tested this at all; just typed "make all" and shipped it once they got a clean compile.
Oh, right, it's OSS, so testing is all my responsibility, instead of the developer's. Well, OK, I've got my own work to do instead of someone else's; maybe I'll check out 2.0 after some other sucker tests it. Let's just say I'm not Impressed with 1.1.)
Try printing a report and controlling banding... footers... headers... etc.
Make the printer spit out the current page and start on the next page because you need another inch of paper to print the section intact.
--Phillip
Can you say BIRTH TAX
Remember, as Califoria goes, so goes the rest of the country!
at the moment you have to enter a lame "security number" to do pretty much anything on the website. Good thing I'm not blind and reliant on a screen reader isn't it. A not to people who use features like this, for the sake of those people who do not browse the internet visually (or who use a text mode browser like I find myself using occasionally)...please, for the love of god offer an alternative to the lame securty numbers.
I am NaN
If it's gpl'd where do we get the source code? I would like to download it.
If you read their announcement, you'll see that this thing needs a database backend too.
That would be totally hot!!!
OpenOffice *already* has excellent DBMS tools, of the same caliber as MS Visual Studio / MS Access, built RIGHT INTO it. It also has connectors for LDAP, ODBC, JDBC, and other native connectors. Actually its interface for designing queries, which also closely mirrors the MS and ERWIN idea, is far FAR superior to what I see in ReKall.
ReKall and Access are not DBMSs by any stretch of the imagination.The only thing that ReKall provides related to Access is a quick and dirty way to make forms to query your database. It is not anywhere near as powerfull as the database construction and query designer utilities in OpenOffice and Access.
In summary, ReKall has its nieche, providing the small part of Access that OpenOffice didn't provide, but OpenOffice can still do many things ReKall can't.
Apache is installed by default on most Linux distros and is easily installed under Windows.
Making the database accessible through a Web browser interface eliminates platform issues. A standalone app must be supplied in a version that will run on the client workstation.
thekompany.com can't handle /. busy...
[Please sign here]
This is what open source is all about... the strongest will survive.
If no one find the product useful, it will eventually die off.
On the other hand, it could be come wildly popular, and take many users/developers from competing open source projects...
As someone who used Lotus Approach quite a bit, I'd be very interested in knowing how how Rekall compares...anyone have dual-experience?
This wasn't just plain terrible, this was fancy terrible. This was terrible with raisins in it. - Dorothy Parker
I know you can't read the article, but a little googling pulled up the fact that Rekall is a RAD Frontend to several DB's, such as MySQL and PostGreSQL.
My day job is doing small business database work in FileMaker. As much as I like using PostGreSQL(I am writing a Perl object framework around it right now), FileMaker rocks its world in terms of quickly building data systems. There is an amazing amount of money to be made designing custom database systems for small businesses.
However, I don't like the cult of personality that seems to insulate FileMaker developers and employees from the rest of the db world. As a whole, they tend to be very defensive about the product and blind to other possibilities. I would be thrilled to be able to offer a client an open source solution.
If Rekall is(or can evolve into) a replacement for FileMaker, I am all for it. It can't come fast enough.
All that is necessary for the triumph of good is that evil men do nothing.
>>Berkeley DB, Sleepycat DB
Err, what was the difference between these two again? Isn't Berkeley DB now put out by Sleepycat? Or maybe they are really different products and I'm a clueless wonder dog.
Wouldn't be the first time.
This is a problem not with just databases / RAD tools but in general.
The issue is that you can find scores of OSS developers that are driven by "cool, Windows / OS X has it, Linux does not, let's port / write for it" mentality.
But there are very few who are actually capable to come up with something truly new.
I have been saying all along; lets stop playing catch-up to Windows, Oracle, etc. Open Source truly shines when applied to something revolutionary new. There has been a shortage of new ideas in OSS.
Maybe because the innovation is very individualistic and Open Source is community - based?
Not only would Rekall be great for that functionality, but it would also be cross platform - meaning the Apple and *nix users could play too.
Here, IMHO, is the reason that Microsoft is mortified at OSS. Having a complete office suite that is cross platform means that the average person can be productive on whatever OS they want, not just Windows.
From the user's point of view, realising that they don't need Microsoft in order to use thier computer for productivity tasks means they have the power to tell Microsoft to "pound sand" if they so choose. They have the freedom of choice restored.
From the MS point of view, OSS doesn't play ball the way any other competitor does. It doesn't try a full frontal marketing assault, it doesn't introduce any "features" that you have to reverse engineer, nor does it try to use any of the other tactics that a corporate entity does (and which Microsoft is very good at defending against). It simply tries to take away the very reason your users need you. If no one needs you, you have to create that need - and with Office and Windows not being needed, how will Microsoft grow? It's a pretty much two horse company, and a viable, complete office suite would suffocate both of the ponies pulling along the monopoly at once.
Steve Ballmer must sweat at night knowing that there's not a lot he can do to stop the development of things like ReKall - things that will pry the monopoly out of his sweaty little palms whether he likes it or not.
Soko
"Depression is merely anger without enthusiasm." - Anonymous
Please read the blurb (someone has even placed a copy of the text on Slashdot). It is not another database.
From the blurb on the site, it is 'database agnostic'.
Isn't that exactly what Reakall is doing? A RAD tool for existing database products, such as MySQL, PostgrSQL, Firebird etc. that you yourself mentioned.
RTFA before you start ranting off on a tangent.
We've plenty of relational databases (PostgreSQL, MySQL, mSQL, HyperSQL to name just four), and plenty of flatfile databases (gdbm, ndbm, Berkeley DB, Sleepycat DB to name another four). We've even got GIS databases (eg: GRASS and PostGRASS) and any number of other specialized database products (LDAP, SNMP, etc). We don't need any more! Please!
Rekall is not a database! It is an Access-like front end to other databases, and currently supports MySQL and PostgreSQL.
If we need database products, we need object oriented databases, heirarchical databases, things that are in relatively short supply, where what is out there is limited in usefulness, so ancient it won't compile, or too hideous to contemplate.
There is at least one open source OO database out there, and there was even a slashdot story about it. IIRC it has been forgotten since.
Instead of re-inventing the wheel, wouldn't it be a smarter use of time to invent the car? More effort into RAD tools for existing database products, and/or enhancements into those that were already there, would be far more productive use of time.
Which is exactly what Rekall is: a RAD tool for existing database products.
Now quit your whining and go find something productive to do.
Am I a hipster-doofus?
If it supports such things as diagrams and visual representation of tables, I can see this as a really great application. There are other applications like this, most notably pgAccess and pgAdmin (for postgresql), but one that connects to a bunch of things is nice.
These types of apps are great for throwing together the framework of tables for an application. They're also good for managing stored queries (or whatever you call them), as well as viewing table information. You have everything in front of you, so that you can scan it with your eyes while writing your SQL.
PHP is just a language, and doesn't really give you much in the way of DB stuff... You usually have to roll your own application, and then you have security things that you need to attend to. XML isn't really useful at all in this case, since it's usually the result of working with a database, not part of the cause.
You need to restart your computer. Hold down the Power button for several seconds or press the Restart button.
That's what this is - it's a front-end for an arbitrary database, has plugins for a half dozen of the most popular ones, and you can write plugins for accessing the others.
Rekall is *NOT* a database. Also, it *IS* something we need (and didn't have previously). At least, it's something *I* need (and have wanted for a long time).
If you've ever used FileMaker Pro on the Mac or Windows you know we're missing something like this in Linux. Rekall seems to be the answer (since KOffice's Kexi Project is still getting off the ground). Only it's a far superior solution since you can pick & choose which back-end database(s) you want to use (and it's free now!).
Hell, there's even a version of Rekall for embedded Linux!
What Rekall provides that your typical PHP/MySQL solution doesn't, is real-time scripting of events. Sure, you can write some badass javascript that does server-side lookups of info, but that takes a lot of time and isn't very easy to change. With Rekall you can, for instance, create a database of customers. When you type in "Bob Smith" it can auto-fill in the rest of Bob's info (like phone number, address, etc). I know from first hand experience that this is a very difficult thing to do with a web-based form.
Also, an open-source Rekall has the potential to replace things like Remedy, Vantive, Peoplesoft, and other big-name ECRM systems.
Not to mention the fact that Rekall is completely cross-platform.
-Riskable
"Those who choose proprietary software will pay for their decision!"
For those of you not in the know, Rekall is a RAD DBMS similar to MS Access or Paradox
WOW! That's just what I was waiting for before I could switch!
Try printing a report and controlling banding... footers... headers... etc.
Make the printer spit out the current page and start on the next page because you need another inch of paper to print the section intact.
All possible with a CSS2 compliant browser.
But I do agree that PHP/MySQL are solving a different problem than Rekall.
If we need database products, we need object oriented databases, heirarchical databases, things that are in relatively short supply, where what is out there is limited in usefulness, so ancient it won't compile, or too hideous to contemplate.
It's hard to create a decent object-oriented database when the word "object" isn't formally defined. "Object-oriented" is merely a programming model. Database management systems require a lot more rigor than that.
And although it might fall into the "too hideous to contemplate" category, you should check out gt.m as a heirarchical DBMS. It's available on sourceforge. It's a MUMPS implementation; for those of you who don't know what that is, it's a heirarchical database system and programming language all rolled into one. It is used in financial institutions and hospitals alike.
In fact, there is a freely-available medical records/hospital management system that is more robust and complete than commercial products costing millions of dollars: VistA, put out by the US Veterans Administration. It is available via the freedom of information act.
There is a project to get VistA running on gt.m: WorldVistA.
But, I think you miss the point of Rekall: it is the RAD tool for existing DBMSs to which you refer. It is quite nice, from all accounts.
Also, for an interesting project that is more industrial in nature, check out Gnu Enterprise, an Oracle-forms like environment that also makes use of existing database management systems.
There's a lot going on, a lot of it both useful and interesting.
Microsoft is to software what Budweiser is to beer.
US Democracy:The best person for the job (among These pre-selected choices...)
You can read whatever you want into theKompany.com's announcement but I have been following what's been happening. There is plenty of contra information to be had around the web, to support my belief that thrKompany.com had no choice but to allow Rekall to go GPL. Had theKompany.com not done it the Rekall developers would have.
Anyone know how this compares to pgAcess?
If anyone is reviewing might make a good basis for comparison.
Neither SNMP or LDAP are "specialized databases".
If I'm wrong, then you could have included Windows Notepad in your specialized databases list.
lmao, thats possibly the greatest offtopic/troll i've ever seen, brilliant
I wonder how this relates to this thread (which actually starts here), which were posted to comp.lang.python [tinyurl links point to long google groups URLs]. Seemed like there was some sort of disagreement between theKompany and the main developer. His site is totalrekall.co.uk. A bit of a soap opera, but at least both sides are moving in the same direction (GPL) -- maybe it doesn't really matter who owns the code if they both release it under the same license.
-1, Informative! Woohoo!
"Wreck-All". Another great open source name.
I think it's by Samuel Clemens (aka Mark Twain). Cool, huh?
The parent post was deemed 3, Interesting. When I tried to reply it showed as 3, funny. WTF?
I know, I know...
I used to write my own database frontends with PHP or Perl... but at one point I was thinking - why do I need to code these goddamned frontends, each one different, each one specific? Oh, I've wished to see something like Rekall, something I could just easily make a data entry interface with, something simple to make queries with... though I hear OO.o is getting something like this too.
(And an off-topic opinion: Is it just me, or does PHP's XML support suck? Every language that only provides a raw Expat interface (eeeyuch) is born of Satan. XML::Twig is the Only Real Way.)
Did anyone else notice that in the post, when listing the other "killer apps" the poster only provided a link to Scribus and just listed the other ones?
Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. It's just that yours is stupid.
Yep, pretty cute. Last nail on Windows' coffin...
With no support for the two most popular enterprise databases, Rekall unfortunately sounds about as good as one hand clapping.
If we need database products, we need object oriented databases,
PostgreSQL is a OO database - you can have an 'employees' table that inherits all the data-types from your 'people' table, and has it's own tata types too boot.
You can select from one, both, or the other - or all the children of 'people', including the 'managers' table you just created under 'employees'
Works quite nicely with non-oo aware applications - they need not know then when they "select * from people" they transparently get everybody.
Moneyed corporations, non-working 'poor' and criminal prisoners are turning productive citizens into tax-slaves.
I just discovered OpenOffice has a viable alternative to Access, they just don't promote it well. Instead of a separate program, the database reporting and forms functions are availble to all of the rest of OpenOffice. The database relies on .dbf files (sql lite might be a big improvement here) internally or on an external database (Mysql, Postgres, Oracle, ODBC, etc).
Unfortunately these features are poorly documented and even more poorly promoted.
Bleh!
No it's not pretty, nor efficient, but it works... and when you cant do it any other way, its a godsend for them...
True, it sucks to support or convert to something better.. but its here to stay..
---- Booth was a patriot ----
We've even got GIS databases (eg: GRASS and PostGRASS)
GRASS isn't a GIS database, it's a GIS system. The 'A' stands for "Analysis". And I think you mean "PostGIS" -- a package of GIS extensions for PostgreSQL.
though not much for PostgreSQL
There's a Tcl/Tk based WYSIWYG for PostgreSQL that has been shipping for some time. Not half bad, although last time I looked (about a year ago) it still had some rough edges.
Of course, if you'd RTFA you'd know that Rekall is a RAD tool for existing database products.
-- Alastair
Unless you hardcode for a certain paper size and make certain ASSumptions about how the browser prints, you need CSS3 for this. Which hasn't been implemented by anyone and won't be for a long while.
Does this help or hurt the Kexi project for an INTEGRATED Koffice component?
I was really looking forward to that last part to complete out Koffice and make it a legitimate replacement for general MSO users ( not power users of course.. but what is that, 1% in reality? )
---- Booth was a patriot ----
There's a Tcl/Tk based WYSIWYG for PostgreSQL
Which is called pgAccess which on viewing the new screenshots is looking much slicker than it used to.
-- Alastair
I'm trying on my debian box but it must depend on different versions of python/qt/kde/g++ than what's in unstable.
Right; that's just a GROOVY database.
Why?
I think he just called ACID.
My memory might trick me too, but I think that involved transactions. Does MySQL do them?
Maybe I'm not up to date but last time I bothered with MySQL there was no transaction support.
I can't really think why anyone would prefer MySQL over Postgres anyways... (that part was just my humble opinion)
It seems almost obligatory for /.ers to put down MS-Access any time it's mentioned. I frankly don't understand it. Why it is very unfortunate that such a tool is in the hands of MS and not x-platform, on it's own merits it's a very powerful front end tool. People seem to confuse Access with the novices who use it.
It has a good widget set, it has a functional scripting language, a graphical interface that's good enough for most queries you'll ever write (though it does make ugly SQL), and it has a quite complete event-based system to fire scripts from.
Where Access doesn't seem to have *any* real competition is around its reporting engine. If anyone can tell me how to get all the flexibility and ease of development in reporting that Access has in an OS tool, please tell me! I'd love to switch over.
The default data engine for Access is "Jet", which these days just comes with Windows, but you can use nearly any RDMS through ODBC or pass-through queries, including a "real" one like Postgres.
I've been following the GPL'ing of Rekall with great interest, because I do want to get out from MS's thumb. But in testing it so far I can't get past some glaring bugs (this is in the Win32 version).
you're saying that moving an Access app with "1 or two huge tables" to Oracle is hard? Why? How? Moving from an Access app seems like it is usually pretty easy, the code is there, easily opened (it's not compiled), easy to read (VBA is even simpler than VB and Wizard-generated code may be ugly but it's the EXACT SAME ugly throughout the entire app, which is more than you can say for ugly human-written code), and if it's only 1 or 2 tables then the data import is a snap (and table/column names almost irrelevant).
Writing a new front end to tie to the new database is a lot more trouble, but that is my job quite often so I see it as work, not a burden.
The truth doesn't care what I think.
First off- Rekall is a very nice app. IMHO, TKC is one of the better app developers for Linux. Rekall is very much like MS Access, but a lot better. GUI design and Python scripting are a couple big strengths of the package. Like Access, you can use a database file of its own format (analogous to .mdb I imagine) or you can connect to a remote SQL server.
Second- anyone know if the Zaurus version of Rekall will be GPL'd? I use it, although it is only the demo. The demo has all the functionality of the real deal, but only allow you do make a local file-based DB, not allowing you to connect to MySQL and the other RDBMSs over the network. Wasn't a problem for me, as I just wanted to do it locally. But for others, those who want to connecto to a remote server, this would be even better.
Working toward a usable PDA environment in the spirit of Newton OS: Dynapad
"Blah Blah Blah Arnold. Blah Blah Blah Arnold T3H termninator LOL. Blah Blah Blah Arnold t3h govnator. Blah Blah Blah Arnold ate a muffin Blah Blah Blah. Arnold took a shit. Blah Blah Blah Arnold asumed goatse postition for President Bush. Blah Blah Blah Arnold was sworn in. Blah Blah Blah Arnold was sworn in 25 minute ago, we will continue our 24 hours 7 days a week coverage of Arnold"
Oh get over it, an actor has been elected the head of CA. Now please STUF, stop the over used and unfunny jokes, and quit masterbating to this fact he was elected.
Sheesh, I sware after the ememgency broadcast alert that went on accidentally on one local radio station was going mention him being sworn in.
OR ...
You can troll squeaknet
irc.squeaknet.net #beowulf
here
To know that you know what you know, and that you do not know what you do not know, that is true wisdom. --Scooby Doo
Moderators: Mod me down all you want, but it is a terrible name.
I'm NOT saying the software is terrible, or the people are terrible. I'm only saying the name is terrible.
Many people will pronounce it "Wreck-All".
Yet, what a big difference such a belittled feature makes. In the tens of thousands of departments in all the companies in the world, it's FileMaker Pro's and Access' form creation abilities that interests the secretaries who put in requisitions for these products and support Microsoft and FileMaker/Apple.
PowerBuilder's powerful query building tool is nearly everything a database application developer could ask for (minus the stupid syntax within the larger Powerbuilder scripting language). But, where is Powerbuilder, on a secretary's desk or on a developer's desk? I'll tell you something, there are more secretaries in the world than there are developers, and hence there are more Access installations than there are Powerbuilder installations.
I think that is two of the most succintly insightful paragraphs I have ever read on Slashdot.
I would also add that many people begin their journey into computer programming by beginning with Access or Filemaker. This gives them confidence to then seek further instruction in more powerful languages.
I know many snooty purists think this is bad, but there is not much one can do about snooty purists.
>>
I am the director, and this is my movie
I would guess that around 1% of MS Office users have even done *anything* with Access. As it is, KOffice is usable for at least 99% of MS Office users, if you don't have to worry about translating documents to and from MS Office (a very big "if" in the practical world, admittedly).
Don't get me wrong, Kexi would/will be great, but I don't think the lack of an Access-like DB app is a big holding point for KOffice at this time.
PHP is just a language, and doesn't really give you much in the way of DB stuff... You usually have to roll your own application, and then you have security things that you need to attend to.
PHP isn't "just a language", it's an entire platform that includes many tools for designing and implementing database-based applications.
Furthermore, PHP already has many applications available for it, applications which for Access or Rekall, you'd have to build yourself.
which ie is not...
besides, does moz implement all of css2?
"We don't know what we are doing, but we are doing it very carefully,..." Wherry, R.J. Personnel Psychology (1995)
I think it's just more that true originality is Really Hard. Commercial or open source. Most commercial stuff is created to address a specific need that crops up in the business world, and open source is somewhat remote from that world right now. Remember, too, that any time anything new is introduced there is always an inertia when trying to get people to try it.
Perhaps this exercise would be useful - try to pose a problem in the real world that can be solved in theory by software, but hasn't been yet. That's what most "killer apps" have done. Spreadsheets - handled data formerly manipulated with great effort by hand. Word processors - super typewriters. Intelligent storage and query of large data sets in general - databases. Video and image editing - image editors and high end movie software. All things people use to create "real world" products such as papers, financial statements, company brochures, etc. All of which was being done before, but not nearly as well. What gaping voids are there that need filling now? Two types of people can answer that - veterans in the trenches who know where all the weak points are, and true geniuses who see whole new ways of doing things with digital manipulation. (I'd argue typesetting vis a vi TeX might qualify as radical and new, despite how long it's been around, but it doesn't work well in that it doesn't give good immediate feedback. Coming up with something new and useful is flat out hard.)
If you want my opinion about what would be the next killer feature in the software game, something that would compell massive adoption of the software, I'd have to say provably correct code and design. Most of the major problems in day to day business have been addressed, in theory at least, by the tools out there. What is needed now (due to our fun little lawsuit happy culture, among other reasons) is software that can be proven, using methods like B and Z, to do what it is designed to do flawlessly. Reimplimenting our major "killer apps" using such techniques would get a lot of attention. Guaranteed functionality will grab market share. Treating the last 20 years as market research into what people want software to DO, now we should design as flexible, powerful, usable, and perfect software as humans and computers can. That would be a worthy step.
Of course, there's no market for this currently, because everyone is content to buy whats out there rather than pay the costs of high end software engineering. Plus, that stuff is HARD. Beyond ordinary open source efforts, at least given the training now provided in Computer Science departments. I'm not even sure whether the B and Z tools could scale like that. But if they can, it would be truly awesome to see an OS and app set implimented that way.
"I object to doing things that computers can do." -- Olin Shivers, lispers.org
Actually, there is some pretty innovative OSS stuff out there, look at sweetcode.org for example. I think the main problem is that if you invent something new and revolutionary, it's often too different from what people are used to. You would need a massive marketing campaign or a lot of luck to get it to take off, especially when your first-attempt OSS solution is still a bit clunky proof-of-concept implementation.
Boy would I like to see something as easy to use a filemaker that hooked into a solid DBMS. I develop stuff in FM too, but I'm embarrased to admit sometimes. But I swear I can do most anything in FM about 10 times faster than I can in Access and when i'm done it looks good and has an easy user interface. Access just makes me tear my hair out. I'm not sure if it's because FM is really so easy, or just because I'm used to it.
It really irritates me to see Filemaker (the company) continuing to try to market a "database" product, when their whole reason for being is the easy forms and scripting. We've got plenty of good databases; we don't need another one. I keep hoping FileMaker would come out with a front end for MySQL et al. The last thing I want is something like Access.
--Hi. I'm in Portland and it's raining. This appears to be a permanent condition.
"I can't really think why anyone would prefer MySQL over Postgres anyways"
Maybe because some of us really don't care for PostgreSQL bigots always ragging on MySQL. For some jobs MySQL is just as good as PostgreSQL. Get off your high horse.
See Agata Report - www.agata.com.br is to GPL with php-Gtk.
I seem to be carving myself a niche as a free software facist (hobby) and small scale database designer (way to make a living in conjunction with my many other areas of expertise). The kinds of databases I design are low on records and numbers of concurrent users, but high on complexity of relationships. Things like classification of living things and the environments they live in, or relationships between organisations and individuals in organisations related to each other by a common cause. Anyway, this is what I need. Access is the /only/ thing that keeps me using windows /at all/. And it's still brain damaged, stupid, opaque, hideously unmaintainable (due to being integrated into the operating system and office suite as far as I can see) - especially when you're trying to distribute it as a front end.
For me, with a good idea about database design, but little interest in software engineering, if this works, it's exactly what I'm looking for. I might even contribute to the project if I can get it to compile.
When will a stable version hit debian stable?
"...we should just trust our president in every decision that he makes and we should just support that." B.Spears 2003
This seems a really cool project which could meet my needs, but unfortunately I know one of the developers personally and unfortunately he is a obnoxious twat.
It would be a bit like listening to a band that you know the lead singer is paedophile.
Then again I still use windows so I suppose I could try.
Hope you see this JD
This is a post from one of the two developers a few days ago. This might be the reason for the release. Does anybody know about?
And, will Recall and Total Recall stay as an application or will they fork?
How will this affect Kexi?
Windows users:
Internet Explorer is obsolete. Please upgrade to Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox.
Do you actually work for a living or are still a student?
Seriously, anywhere i have been, access has been much more prevelant then 1%... id say more like 25% overall. Though many times they are quiet users that you never see.. they tend to be a bit more techincally competent..
Even where i work now, id say the % is in the 20's. And i know this beacuse im the central contact for support for the damned beast..
Yes i agree its a pain in the butt, but there are a LOT of companies that cant afford an IT guy, that use Access to 'get by'.. So yes its IS a show stopper to adopting something like KOffice
---- Booth was a patriot ----
MS Access has been the source of endless frustration and pain for programmers in every organization I've ever worked in. MS Access has done for programmers what a hemorrhoid does for your ass. Idiots who aren't programmers create f*cked up little apps that management wants everyone to use, and can't understand why it takes longer than a couple of days to build an application. "I can build something in Access by lunch, why does it take people who should know about computers so long to build it using Oracle/mySQL/SQLServer and a programming language so everyone else can use it?" The other problem is "Prototype in Access, then we'll rewrite it", but they never want you to take the time to rewrite it, since it's already "done".
*Whew* I really hate MS Access.
Do we really want/need this kind of problem on Linux?
This is an absolute killer app. I haven't used this or kexi but comparing the 2 superficially:
Kexi runs on win32 also, and designed to eventually use sql lite so it will fit on PDAs. Its screenshots look a bit more polished, but apparently uses c++ as scripting language.
Rekall (beta) has macros, easier scripting, also a beta windows version (free?).
Is one project more advanced than the other? more features?
Its a killer app because you can design many apps quicker. Optionally focusing just on a general core, but let the user extend it easily with custom features or special info requirements. Small business consulting obviously too. All without runtime fees, or MS tax per user. With PDA's already hitting late 90s processing power, giving them 90s computing model apps is a big deal.
"Rekall can build to run under Windows, however since this (currently) requires a commercial license for QT, we have not included the windows-specific parts of the code tree."
http://www.rekallrevealed.org/
This looks promising. However, I'll wait for an easy to install fully GPL'd windows version before I consider using it here at work.
Marked up 40%, marked down 40%, up, down, flying around, those remarkable men in their flying machines!
It's a small world and it smells funny; I'd buy another if it wasn't for the money; Take back what I paid (SoM)
http://www.grasshopperllc.com/
This truly is a very powerful piece of DTP software far exceeding the current incarnation of Scribus.
I'd like your permission to quote your comments about your experience with SCons (from the Slashdot thread back in July) on the SCons web site. Could you drop me a line at webmaster@NOSPAMscons.org to let me know if that's cool with you? Thanks!
Sorry for the OT post, I couldn't find another ready way to get in touch...