death knell for Informix

Data Cruncher

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Apr 25, 2007, 8:35:33 PM4/25/07

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http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9017838

IBM to open its midrange systems to MySQL's database

April 25, 2007 (Computerworld) -- SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- MySQL AB and IBM
announced Wednesday that users of the latter's System i hardware line will
be able to run the MySQL open-source database on the midrange servers.
The System i version of IBM's DB2 database, which is integrated with the
midrange line's operating system as a standard feature, will serve as a
certified storage engine for MySQL, the two companies said at MySQL's annual
user conference here.
MySQL claims that its namesake database is being used in 11 million active
installations worldwide. The software is based on a modular architecture
that lets users swap in different storage engines tuned for different
application scenarios.
Companies that use the System i -- better known by its original AS/400 name,
and then as the iSeries -- will gain the advantage of being able to
implement online and transactional MySQL applications while continuing to
store data in DB2, according to the two vendors.
The agreement to combine the technologies "is about opening up new
applications to old data and old applications to new data," said Mike Smith,
IBM's chief software architect for the System i line.
"I think it's an interesting and potentially excellent deal for both sides,"
said Stephen O'Grady, an analyst at Denver-based consulting firm RedMonk.
"IBM gets access to the more or less ubiquitous MySQL platform with its DB2
storage engine, and MySQL gets an opening to the still popular [System i]
platform."
DB2 is one of the three leading relational databases used by large
enterprises, along with Oracle and Microsoft Corp.'s SQL Server. But MySQL's
low cost of ownership and rapid rise in popularity has led to the creation
of a larger ecosystem of supporting software for the open-source database
than is currently available for DB2.
In addition, MySQL is making inroads into the installed bases of the top
database vendors. For example, one-third of the 269 Oracle users who
responded to an e-mail survey conducted last June for the Independent Oracle
Users Group said that they also use MySQL (download PDF).
IBM also agreed to sell service and support subscriptions for the MySQL
Enterprise database via its reseller network and the System i sales team.
That should help MySQL, which is preparing for an initial public offering,
to gain more paying customers. During his keynote speech on Tuesday, MySQL
CEO Marten Mickos said that his company has just one paying user for every
thousand nonpaying ones.
In another effort to increase its count of paying customers, MySQL in
January announced a site license that lets companies deploy as many MySQL
databases as they want for a flat fee of $40,000 per year. That price,
Mickos claimed, is roughly comparable to the cost of one single-processor
Oracle server license.
The MySQL Enterprise Unlimited offering has attracted users such as ESPN
Inc., The New York Times Co. and TransUnion LLC, according to MySQL. Mickos
said that in this year's first quarter, the company doubled the number of
MySQL Enterprise subscriptions sold compared with the same period last year.
MySQL recently also updated a remote network monitoring service, rolled out
last fall, that can scan all of the database servers behind a customer's
firewall, check to see if they're set up correctly and then provide advice
on how to make them adhere to best practices. Mickos said that can "take
away the black-box feel that servers sometimes have and help you implicate
or exonerate the database when an application is not running well."

John Carlson

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Apr 25, 2007, 10:23:11 PM4/25/07

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On Wed, 25 Apr 2007 20:35:33 -0400, "Data Cruncher"
<datacr...@yahoo.com> wrote:

>http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9017838
>
>
>IBM to open its midrange systems to MySQL's database
>
>April 25, 2007 (Computerworld) -- SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- MySQL AB and IBM
>announced Wednesday that users of the latter's System i hardware line will
>be able to run the MySQL open-source database on the midrange servers.
>The System i version of IBM's DB2 database, which is integrated with the
>midrange line's operating system as a standard feature, will serve as a
>certified storage engine for MySQL, the two companies said at MySQL's annual
>user conference here.

Since when did IFMX run on the AS/400 platform? News to me . . .

JWC

Serge Rielau

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Apr 25, 2007, 11:53:34 PM4/25/07

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Data Cruncher wrote:
> http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9017838
>
>
> IBM to open its midrange systems to MySQL's database

What does that have to do with IDS?
IDS doesn't run on iSeries.
There are exactly 2 things at work here:
1. Enabling of mySQL on iSeries (good for iSeries)
2. Enabling of mySQL directly on DB2 for iSeries (without dependency on
another storage engine) (still good for iSeries)

Depending how one reads the articles one may suspect that IBM will
provide soem help to get mySQL closer to the SQL Standard.
I sure would love to see mySQL users stop nagging: DB2 is bad because
"SELECT 1+2" returns an syntax error ... ;-)

Cheers
Serge

--
Serge Rielau
DB2 Solutions Development
IBM Toronto Lab

Jan M. Nelken

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Apr 26, 2007, 12:34:25 AM4/26/07

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Serge Rielau wrote:

...

> I sure would love to see mySQL users stop nagging: DB2 is bad because
> "SELECT 1+2" returns an syntax error ... ;-)

...

Hmmm - I am confused:

C:\>db2 connect to sample

Database Connection Information

Database server = DB2/NT 9.1.3
SQL authorization ID = DB2ADMIN
Local database alias = SAMPLE

C:\>db2 select 1=2 from sysibm.sysdummy1
SQL0104N An unexpected token "=" was found following "select 1". Expected
tokens may include: ",". SQLSTATE=42601

C:\>db2 select 1+2 from sysibm.sysdummy1

1
-----------
3

1 record(s) selected.

Jan M. Nelken

Message has been deleted

Jan M. Nelken

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Apr 26, 2007, 12:35:52 AM4/26/07

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Serge Rielau wrote:

...

> I sure would love to see mySQL users stop nagging: DB2 is bad because
> "SELECT 1+2" returns an syntax error ... ;-)

...

Hmmmm, I seem to be confused again:

C:\>db2 connect to sample

Database Connection Information

Database server = DB2/NT 9.1.3
SQL authorization ID = DB2ADMIN
Local database alias = SAMPLE

C:\>db2 select 1+2 from sysibm.sysdummy1

Knut Stolze

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Apr 26, 2007, 4:05:18 AM4/26/07

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Jan M. Nelken wrote:

$ db2 "select 1+2"

SQL0104N An unexpected token "END-OF-STATEMENT" was found following "select
1+2". Expected tokens may include: "<table_expr>". SQLSTATE=42601

MySQL accepts this crap because they don't have the standardized VALUES
statement.

--
Knut Stolze
DB2 z/OS Utilities Development
IBM Germany

Philip Nelson

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Apr 26, 2007, 8:56:45 AM4/26/07

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Serge Rielau wrote:

Or even -

SELECT * FROM TABLE WHERE integer_column = '1';

Came across this during my work on Ruby on Rails !!!

You can put quotes around the literals for any data type in MySQL and it
works.

Phil

Art S. Kagel

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Apr 26, 2007, 10:23:29 AM4/26/07

to tea...@scotdb.com

Works in IDS and all other Informix versions as well as long as the value in
quotes is convertable to the type of the column (or vice-versa since the
optimizer is free to convert the row values to strings for the comparison if
it determines that it's more efficient to do so (rare I know). Informix
engines have had such automatic conversions since the first SE release. And
Serge is right, this has nothing to do with the IBM Informix product line
which doesn't run on iSeries or any other non-UNIX platform other than Windoze.

Give it up folks. Informix isn't going anywhere but up! Nine of the
world's ten largest retailer organizations, two of the world's largest
telecom companies, the world's largest manufacturer of network routers,
several of the world's largest airlines, and the world's largest military
organization all use Informix database servers. Get over it and get on with it!

Hope to see you all in San Jose! Oh, and watch out for Cheetah crossings. ;-)

Art S. Kagel

Tool

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Apr 26, 2007, 7:33:15 AM4/26/07

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Excellent news!!

MySQL has a great product, and the market-buzz for MySQL DBA is increasing.

While it could be argued ad-infinitum that IDS is a better engine, IDS just
won't go anywhere until there are some stories to tell from the marketing
department. You can't have stories until developers are given incentives
to use IDS over other products. iSeries is interesting because it uses DB2
for its 'registry' of system settings--if I'm not mistaken. Adding MySQL
to this platform is good marketing buzz for MySQL, and gives it more
street credibility. I keep mentioning how Informix SE is a good example
of something that can compete peer-to-peer against MySQL, but it apparently
is never going to happen. Instead, DB2 will be the one to get the buzz.

-t-

--
*
* http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rVS3kdXycrM&mode=related&search=
*

Serge Rielau

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Apr 26, 2007, 1:05:57 PM4/26/07

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Philip Nelson wrote:
> SELECT * FROM TABLE WHERE integer_column = '1';
>
> Came across this during my work on Ruby on Rails !!!
>
> You can put quotes around the literals for any data type in MySQL and it
> works.

Are to talking to folks in the lab? I got the same request internally
yesterday!
DB2 for iSeries actually supports this.
The days of strong typing in SQL are clearly numbered. Like it or not :-(

Zachi

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Apr 26, 2007, 2:43:20 PM4/26/07

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On Apr 26, 10:23 am, "Art S. Kagel" <k...@bloomberg.net> wrote:

> Give it up folks. Informix isn't going anywhere but up! Nine of the
> world's ten largest retailer organizations, two of the world's largest
> telecom companies, the world's largest manufacturer of network routers,
> several of the world's largest airlines, and the world's largest military
> organization all use Informix database servers. Get over it and get on with it!

The Chinese military is using Informix?

Zachi

mairhtin o'feannag

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Apr 27, 2007, 12:46:04 AM4/27/07

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Um....

==> db2 "select 1+2 from sysibm.sysdummy1"

1
-----------
3

1 record(s) selected.

Knut Stolze <sto...@de.ibm.com> wrote in
news:59b4puF...@mid.individual.net:

Obnoxio The Clown

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Apr 26, 2007, 12:27:25 PM4/26/07

to Data Cruncher, inform...@iiug.org

... because, of course, the iSeries is the most widely installed Informix
base out there, isn't it?

What a load of utter cock.

--
Bye now,
Obnoxio

"I'm astonished anyone pays real money for this crap."
-- Cosmo

--
This message has been scanned for viruses and
dangerous content by OpenProtect(http://www.openprotect.com), and is
believed to be clean.

Serge Rielau

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Apr 27, 2007, 2:56:28 PM4/27/07

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mairhtin o'feannag wrote:
> Um....
>
> ==> db2 "select 1+2 from sysibm.sysdummy1"
>
> 1
> -----------
> 3
>
> 1 record(s) selected.

Mairhtin,

You'd be surprised how many mySQL folks never get that far before giving
up. Severe ADD if you ask me...

Tool

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Apr 27, 2007, 7:43:18 PM4/27/07

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Why would you want to do this in the first place?

-t-

Serge Rielau

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Apr 28, 2007, 7:13:00 AM4/28/07

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Tool wrote:
> Why would you want to do this in the first place?

You're right. Most people would do SELECT 3.
What is the first SQL try when you start playing with a new DBMS?

Tool

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Apr 28, 2007, 1:47:37 PM4/28/07

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I hate SQL so as a general rule I try to avoid it. To answer your question, I typically want to know where the system tables are since most vendors don't provide decent schema or system information at the command line. So I want to know where the system information is stored to provide more relevant information that would help me as a DBA. So, system information SQL is what I really focus on, to build meaningful reports and a better understanding of the system. If I'm building applications I focus on simple SQL that a child can understand. :-)

Serge Rielau

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Apr 28, 2007, 11:38:45 PM4/28/07

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Tool wrote:
> I hate SQL so as a general rule I try to avoid it.

?!

Superboer

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May 2, 2007, 2:56:26 AM5/2/07

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SELECT * FROM TABLE WHERE integer_column = '1';

i would really be carefull using above.... it may bite you one day.
the above can cause a sequential scan even when there are indexes on
integer_column.

Superboer.

On 26 apr, 14:56, Philip Nelson <team...@scotdb.com> wrote:
> Serge Rielau wrote:
> > Data Cruncher wrote:
>

> http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBas...

Bill Martinez

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May 7, 2007, 12:34:46 AM5/7/07

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Serge Rielau wrote:
> Tool wrote:
>
>> I hate SQL so as a general rule I try to avoid it.
>
> ?!
>

I dunno _ hate work as a general rule, so I try to avoid it as much as
possible, but for some reason I like getting paychecks so I keep going back.

jgar the jorrible

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May 8, 2007, 1:50:33 PM5/8/07

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You ought to find something you _like_ to do, the optimizer
automagically deworks it.

SQL does have its uses, even if it sometimes isn't the best language
for what it has been used for.

Hey Data Cruncher: Does Fair Use mean copying entire articles to
usenet?

jg
--
@home.com is bogus.
"First thing to go is the knees - first the left knee, then the right
knee, then the high knee." - Monique

hpuxrac

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May 8, 2007, 2:51:40 PM5/8/07

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Is there some point to this posting or just an attempt to start up
another flame war?

joel garry

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May 9, 2007, 5:04:15 PM5/9/07

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My publicist said it was ok.

jg
--
@home.com is bogus.

"Rhet Butler told me she had all sorts of things she planned to say if
she ever ran into OJ, but when she finally ran into him in a bar she
was all star-struck and those things just flew out of her head." -
Monique

Pete

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Jun 7, 2007, 2:26:21 AM6/7/07

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Superboer

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Jun 7, 2007, 3:14:02 AM6/7/07

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> SELECT * FROM TABLE WHERE integer_column = '1';

Wonderfull sounds like you are one of these developers who only test
with 100 rows.
when people start using the product for real the performance drops in
such a way
that it is unusable.

the above can cause sequential scans (unnessesary)!!!!!!!

stop producing crap.!!!!!!!!!

-- You can put quotes around the literals for any data type in MySQL
and it
-- works.
so you can leave your brain at the pub......

never touched mysql i guess mysql has the same feature, it'll do a seq
scan!!!!!!!!

Superboer.

Geoffrey

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Jun 21, 2007, 7:42:27 AM6/21/07

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