Re: Path to PostgreSQL portabiliy

Who really is your target "market" on the windows platform? Microsoft 
Access users (many)? MySQL users(insignificant?)? MSSQL (many)?

Assuming that the postgresql team isn't getting lots of money or resources 
to do it. I don't see why you would want to invest a lot to support windows 
from a long term point of view. Windows can be a costly platform to support.

Because if you become a serious threat, Microsoft can rip the rug from 
beneath you any chance they get. Also Microsoft WILL always change their 
APIs. They're not stupid. If Microsoft freezes their APIs they will end up 
like "yet another BIOS manufacturer", and bye bye profit margins. Microsoft 
will strive to keep it a proprietary AND changing API.

Windows is rather different operationally. Automating vacuum etc on windows 
is going to be different. Starting postgresql as a service is going to be 
different as well. Same for uninstalling. So support requests are going to 
be different.

If your target market is consumer - Windows consumer users also have 
different expectations. Most will want nicer GUIs (those that don't care 
won't mind running Postgresql elsewhere).

BTW if your target market is a bit higher end - typically those that "must 
use" windows also "must use" MSSQL/Oracle/etc. You will thus have to build 
brand recognition for Postgresql on Windows.

All this will cost you.

That said, is it easier to support only Windows NT/2000 and forget about 
Win9x? The bigger dbs don't support win9x either (how does Oracle/DB2 
support NT? They seem to work ok). Leave MySQL to the Win9x people ;). BTW 
does MySQL really perform OK on Win9x?

Forget the Cygwin approach. Is there really a market for that? Unless 
things have got a lot easier, installing Cygwin is like installing a new 
O/S just to install your app. And installing and learning a new system has 
got to be one of the major barriers, otherwise people will either buy a new 
USD500 1.5+ GHz pc or use VMware+BSD/Linux+Postgresql ;).

Cheerio,
Link.

At 11:53 AM 5/8/02 -0400, mlw wrote:
>writing software for over 20 years now, and sometimes you just have to hold
>your nose. It would be nice if we could code what we want, the way we want, in
>the language we want, on the platforms we want.
>
>Windows represents a HUGE user base, it also represents a platform for which a
>real good native PostgreSQL should do well. There are, to my knowledge, no 
>good
>and free databases available for Windows.
>
>PostgreSQL on Windows could be very cool as a serious poster child for why
>open-source is the way to go.