Re: Installing Postegres side-by-side with M$ SQL server]] - Mailing list pgsql-general

Ron Johnson wrote:
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> On 01/22/07 07:09, Paul Lambert wrote:
>
>> Alban Hertroys wrote:
>>
>>> Paul Lambert wrote:
>>>
>>>
> [snip]
>
>> I'd imagine there aren't too many VMS programmers around that
>> would be willing to port Postgres either, but if anyone out there
>> with experience in VMS wants to give it a go ;) I don't imagine
>> it would be an easy task though - not something I'd look forward
>> to doing anyway.
>>
>
> These are the categories of organizations running VMS:
>
> 1) Companies running a canned app for 15 years on an old, dusty
>    "late model" (meaning mid-1990s) VAX or old Alpha that just
>    keeps chugging along.  Running a similarly ancient version of
>    Rdb/VMS or Oracle or Ingres.  Or very possibly runs atop the
>    very rich RMS filesytem layer.  (It's how you interact with
>    files.  Gives you simple access to sequential, FORTRAN, DAM &
>    ISAM files.)
>
> 2) Big companies running large SMP systems and relatively recent
>    versions of Oracle Rdb or Oracle RDBMS, pumping millions of txn
>    per day.
>
> 3) Hobbyists.  Greybeards in love with VMS who have one or more
>    Alphas (and maybe a VAX or two) in their basements, running apps
>    and compilers with special non-commercial licenses.
>
> 4) A variant on #1.  Running 5 year old hardware, and probably have
>    a compiler license.  Running Oracle Rdb or Oracle RDBMS.
>
>
> We are a #2 shop, and when we want a PostgreSQL instance, we don't
> run it on OpenVMS (since we need that horsepower for existing work),
> but we buy a box from HP and install Linux on it.
>
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We've got pretty new hardware - DS15's, DS25's, Itaniums and so forth.
But we don't run any DB app
on it, most of our data sits in RMS files or flat binary files - even
text files in a few instances, thus making
standard DB queries nigh on impossible with the exception of a report
generator we've built into the app,
but that has nowhere near the capabilities of something like crystal
reports or M$ Access, thus the need
for a 'replica' standard db model. We looked at Mimer on VMS for a while
but threw that out. We've
got about 40 Alphas of various power levels and a couple of Itaniums on
our WAN so plenty of grunt to
spare though. About half of our programming staff would privately fit
into category 3 too - myself included
(though I did give away my vax a few years ago, leaving me with a
solitary DS10)


Having said that, I do agree with your point on those main 4 categories
of VMS users and thus the
unlikelyhood that anyone would be willing to do a Postgres port. Still a
shame though :)

Paul.