Howdy Steve,
IÂ?m on Â?vacationÂ? but I canÂ?t hold back from respondingÂ?(for better or worse :> )  I com
pletely understand your viewpoint and concern. Here's myperspective if I may (take it for wh
at itÂ?s worth :> )Â? Pls bear with me as I eventually get to the Â?.Â? but IÂ?m using a web 
browser here <snicker> Â?

Java and .Net are definitely goodÂ? Heck they may even be the future for database connectivi
ty! However, folks I deal with all express the same concerns as I have at the senior levelsÂ
? Software Quality, Expeditionary <fast/responsive>  Production and End State (mission accomp
lishment) are combined to define the success(s) within any organization. All this while tryi
ng to adjudicate the efficiency of LOTS-O-Programming languagesÂ?  As Â?Information Supremac
yÂ? thru data manipulation (software control/development/implementation) continue(s) to prog
ress in order to meet the needs of enterprise/global agility, only those organizations with 
massive Â?bruteÂ? force will succeed on a global front (as demonstrated by GoogleÂ?s applica
tion of information applied spatially to the Earth <Google Maps> ). I.EÂ? Hire the most quali
fied programmers to focus against the leadership directed Â?objectivesÂ? whether itÂ?s the n
ext P2P API, Shopping Cart or Accounting/Customer relationship management system a
 nd you will eventually evolve some aspect of your effort into the next Â?Big ProductÂ? bene
fiting your org.  In most cases itÂ?s at the cost of tremendous of effort with fractional ga
ins (fractional in proportion to your effort expended). I think Perl provides database users
/admins/mungers the ability to capitalize on various, pervasive/secluded innovation without 
an Army of developers stumbling thru making all the mistakes required to Â?learn lessonsÂ?. 
I think Java/.Net enterprise solutions development has largely become (if not yetÂ? at least
 continues to creep towards) too costly to pursue in terms of price and sophistication versu
s actual end state (result)Â? But thatÂ?s just my opinion.

My experience (gut) tells me the Open Source/Global Free Enterprise community of developers 
has a better shot of accomplishing the required forward propulsion of technology from the ag
gregate innovation/needs perspective than the brut force of closed technologiesÂ? thatÂ?s ju
st my take of course and it is Bourne (no pun to the Bourne Supremacy!) out by history IMHO.
 I believe <guessing here>  your SQL Server experience/expectation management may be reduced 
by the complete saturation of the competent RDBMS tools market, like Mysql, Postgre, SQLite,
 etcÂ? but itÂ?s likely the way forward has been outlined by Perl unique capability and perv
asivness in both the back end processing as well as front end display in a logical, coherent
 fashion (a process model that is absent (IMHO) in most other programming languages. Honestl
y, itÂ?s just cheaper to bring in a programmer and teach him/her Perl (using DBI/DBD to inte
rface with whatever) leaving the org to capitalize on platform agnostic inf
 rastructure(s) and implement the appropriate computing solution/horsepower for the appropri
ate task

Personally, I am waiting _Patiently_ for Perl6 in a few/FEW areas as I believe in the proces
s model that resulted in 4/5.X which I have come to trust will provide for those information
 management constructs, capabilities and simple effectiveness (similar to Linq/DBI) that wil
l undoubtedly result in the Â?nextÂ? true, comprehensiveÂ? internet/information centric prog
ramming language. This will likely spawn true internet innovation on a Scale which the nay-s
ayerÂ?s of Perl couldnÂ?t possibly imagine.

PS: I love Visual Studio (itÂ?s the only reason I still maintain one win32 box) but the real
ity is, closed source/technologies will likely loose hold on the Â?nowÂ? as innovation begin
s to really flourish globallyÂ? The business model of purchasing/propagating well organized 
information will likely fall short (in the closed world) in the context of software developm
ent because of the ever-expanding requirements for info management (not enough smart guys/ga
ls to keep up in proprietary channels). After all, we shouldnÂ?t really restrict the ability
 of global enterprise elements to compete on different terms for the purpose of pure financi
al gainÂ? I hope innovation and creativity drive some orgÂ?s stilll. Heck, I like NikeÂ?s sl
ogan so muchÂ? I wish a Perl-er had thought of it!  <just do IT!>  
AnywayÂ? the pendulum always seems to swing backÂ? just like moving from mainframes to PCÂ?s
 (Thick Clients) and now due to costs of admin and securityÂ? itÂ?s swinging back to central
ly managed infrastructures (thin clients, and other type virtualization).  Similarly, I thin
k the development world will swing back to Perl eventuallyÂ?.
Whew!Â? thatÂ?s my opinion of courseÂ? Back to vacationÂ?

-Al
bigal@[...].com
bigal@[...].net
angelo@[...].com
angelo@[...].net

--OriginalMessage--
From: perl-win32-database-bounces@[...].com [mailto:perl-win32-database-bounces@[...].com] O
n Behalf Of Steve Howard (PFE)
Sent: Tuesday, July 31, 2007 1:25 PM
To: perl-win32-database@[...].com
Subject: Anyone still monitor?

I havenÂ?t seen a single question here in almost 3 months now, so IÂ?m wondering if anyone s
till monitors, or if anyone still uses Perl for Win32 databases. I know I use it less and le
ss, and IÂ?m wondering if IÂ?m holding on to a technology that has gone the way of the dodo.
 

Is anyone still listening out there? Bill? Tim? Others?

Steve Howard




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