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.
I seem to "Rekall" seeing this before.
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 =
is it reekall or reckall?
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.
"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!"
They should call this release "TheKrash"
20 replies and the server is off to la la land.
Linux O Muerte!
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.
See here.
:)
Cool, it has a proper report designer and scripting. Not your average lame db frontend
Am I a hipster-doofus?
US Democracy:The best person for the job (among These pre-selected choices...)
The preceding anonymous glowing testimonial has been brought to you by "The Kompany".
It also smells like canned troll...
we've only seen the demos by the local vendor but it is really promising
Local vendor, eh? Hmmm....
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
So many times, I've had to take an application and try to make it work as an enterprise solution....and the problems usually starts with "MS Access". Here's the scenario. A PHB often starts a small database application....often using all wizards. Well, the problem starts here....he usually has NO idea about relational model theory, and uses the wizards to put everything into 1 or two huge tables. He has just enough smarts to get it cobbled together in a hideous way.
He then has one or two others to start using it...and soon it spreads to others. So, now, you have a large number of un-sync'ed copies of this mess floating around. They try to sync it on a server...and soon find that Access...just isn't meant to be a multi-user application. So, then, it gets dumped on someone like me. "Lets put it on Oracle and make it web based." Then...you try to find out the datamodel....and the trouble begins. You have to basically learn the business rules they are trying to work within...and you re-engineer the whole thing. You normalized the model....then, the trouble comes in with migrating the data.
Mixed case table_names and column_names are just the beginning. Then, you get the fun part of trying to intelligently parsing all the important data...that they stored in the thing in various free from text fields.
No...a tool like MS Access in the hands of managers with just enough knowledge to be dangerous is a BAD thing.
That being said...I'm going to go back and look at this product and article...and give the app. a fair shake. But, please, in the future, if wanting to post about a new and great DB type application, don't even come close to comparing it with ms access.....that is just a big first strike against it!!
Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
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.
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.
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...
I'd hardly think calling anything similar to MS Access a complement. Access is barely what I would call a database...and I truly wish it would be banished from the desktop!!
Rekall is not a database. It is just a database frontend, with the features of Access. It still makes use of a proper relational database backend like MySQL or PostgreSQL. What's the problem? You don't like easy-to-create forms and reports? Yeah, the MDB format sucks. But otherwise Access has certain features that are essential in many office environments that are comprised of merely windows desktops.
Am I a hipster-doofus?
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.
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?
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?
No...a tool like MS Excel in the hands of managers with just enough knowledge to be dangerous is a BAD thing.
Come to think about it... any program in the hands of a 'clued up' manager is a BAD thing!
Its a pity the site was slashdotted before I could have a look at it because it sounds just the thing that was missing from open office.
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.
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!
So what you are saying is that Access is bad because it is easy? That does not make sense.
I have to do this same thing on a regular basis. If you approach the existing app as a model or prototype, then build the new app from the ground up it is not a bad thing.
Anyone know how this compares to pgAcess?
If anyone is reviewing might make a good basis for comparison.
A startup saving money by making use of a few under-developed apps. How is this a bad thing ? It may cost more in the (very) long term but if it's basically free (boss makes it himself) and lessens the personnel costs in the near term, it's obviously a VERY good thing.
Bad quality products can be very good business-wise too you know.
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.
Oh so true, Access is not a "database" at all... However I strongly disagree that it is not useful
Access is a tool which allows rapid application development, ideal for example in building a departmental data warehouse and analysis of data extracted from an enterprise database.
If the resulting information proves sufficiently useful to an organisation then it has to be migrated into something more robust.
It is typical of the IT expert to view this as a problem rather than as a convenient way of discovering what the organisation needs to fill in the gaps left by deployment of enterprise applications. It is an opportunity to improve your business and should be welcomed. You can always rebuild the whole thing from scratch or do it a different way - if the enterprise strength thing you are putting it into allows you do an interface with the same functionality, and often it is very difficult.
The relational model is often held in reverence because of its efficiency, vital for scaleability. Hardware is a lot cheaper and faster than it used to be so this is not the greatest problem. What is a problem is a poor data structure. If you spent a little time helping to ensure that your "managers" understood how to keep the data clean then all you are left with is solving the problem of shoehorning the answer they have built into your enterprise strength relational database. Its not their fault that character case is not supported. Why shouldnt it be?
Sounds more like the complaint of "not invented here" more than anything else to me. Although it could also be something to do with the cost in time and effort to migrate the application - something which the average departmental manager might find prohibitive.
So in the end its a case of neither Access or Enterprise databases being perfect, roll on the day when it gets easier to migrate between RAD tools and robust solutions. I also will be very interested to see just how good this new application is at providing this.
Facts are history now plebs have politics for religion on social media.
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).
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
Hmmm..guess you have never met an MBA who also has a BS in Comp Sci and 22 yrs programming experience. You have now. And I can show you a LOT more. Wizards do the basic things, and if you want something more than basic you have to do it yourself, or find a geek to do it. Of course the geek takes 5 days and insists that it has to be the lastest Linux version and has all the bells and whistles and gee-whiz-bang stuff in it when all you wanted was something that works quickly and adds data extracted from a database and does a few business calculations like ROI, and oh you needed it in 2 hours. It gets really tiring to see all the bashing of MBAs. Oh yes, this is /. the home of the teenagers and college kids who know it all.
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?
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