Re: an other provokative question?? - Mailing list pgsql-general

From Chris Browne
Subject Re: an other provokative question??
Date
Msg-id 60myvzs8nv.fsf@dba2.int.libertyrms.com
Whole thread Raw
In response to an other provokative question??  (volunteer@spatiallink.org)
List pgsql-general
volunteer@spatiallink.org writes:
> Relational database pioneer says technology is obsolete
> http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9034619
> kindlt explain how??

There are several spins relevant to this:

  1.  He's trying to sell His New Thing, and it certainly makes good
      copy to say "your old stuff is obsolete - buy our new stuff!"

  2.  There are problems with SQL which cause many to want something
      better.

      The thing is, SQL isn't forcibly particularly "relational;"
      there is a purist view which says that it definitely *isn't*.

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RDBMS#Current_Usage

      They suggest that people interpret "relational" as implying:

         - System supports having collections of tables
         - System supports certain relational operators that work,
           in some contexts, on these tables.

      SQL provides that sort of thing, but is not as expressive as
      people would like.

      In effect, SQL has gotten hobbled so many ways over the years
      that people seem to find it easier to say "relational ==
      obsolete" than to try to explain that what they're trying to do
      is perhaps *more* faithful to the theoretical relational model
      than the existing products.
--
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