RE: news400 goes negative on IBM?

>>  Michael
>> I can access MySQL from Perl or something I suppose. I can't imagine why
>> I would want to access SQL Server.

> Steve
>because the users want it.

I'm a little confused about how I'd end up in an environment where users
decide how programs access data.

I'm sure a lot of folks are writing programs and apps accessing data across
platforms.  I think there's limited usefulness.  If we have two
installations of Oracle, for example, on the same server we don't do much
cross-database linking.  If an app needs data from both databases we end up
replicating data to one target database for a number of reasons including:

* Cross-database links are slow.
* The uptime for an app becomes tied to the backup/maintenance windows for
both databases.

The same is pretty much true for apps that try to access data across
different platforms.  If you want a stable, performant app you're going to
want to reduce complexities.

> Don
>It's like walking through the woods with a snake 
>bite kit.  It's better to have it and not need 
>it than to need it and not have it.

Or sometimes it's like walking through the woods with a xylophone.

-Jim