4 ms·

> RDBs are a specific concept, and discussion in this area is rife with confusion about what is/isn't "relational", so it pays to use specific words. This argu

> RDBs are a specific concept, and discussion in this area is rife with confusion about what is/isn't "relational", so it pays to use specific words. This argument is getting a lot of are time in this thread. It might be worth considering that if you're arguing words have specific meanings...they no longer do. Databases are technology with decades of historical effort. Any specific terms you come up with will grow fuzzy as new entrants stretch and strain old ideas.

zbentley 5y ago
Maybe so. But a lot of people are drawing incorrect conclusions due to that fuzziness of language. What words do you think we should use instead when contrasting the qualities of various database systems?
galaxyLogic 5y ago
> if you're arguing words have specific meanings...they no longer do. Some terms have a more precise definition than others. I think "relational model" has a very specific meaning, apart from products that claim to implement it or not. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relational_model#:~:text=The%20relational%20model%20(RM)%20for,of%20tuples%2C%20grouped%20into%20relations https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relational_model#:~:text=The%2.... > if you're arguing words have specific meanings...they no longer do. More on that: Recently Zoom the company was fined 85 million because it used the term "End-to-End encryption" inappropriately in its marketing materials. They could have tried to defend themselves by saying "The word end-to-end-encryption" no longer has a specific meaning, therefore we can use it to mean anything we want". But obviously that would not have worked I don't think. https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2021/08/zoom-to-pay-85m-for-lying-about-encryption-and-sending-data-to-facebook-and-google/ https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2021/08/zoom-to-pay-85m-...

4 ms·

> RDBs are a specific concept, and discussion in this area is rife with confusion about what is/isn't "relational", so it pays to use specific words. This argu

by musingsole 5y ago

zbentley 5y ago
Maybe so. But a lot of people are drawing incorrect conclusions due to that fuzziness of language. What words do you think we should use instead when contrasting the qualities of various database systems?
galaxyLogic 5y ago
> if you're arguing words have specific meanings...they no longer do. Some terms have a more precise definition than others. I think "relational model" has a very specific meaning, apart from products that claim to implement it or not. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relational_model#:~:text=The%20relational%20model%20(RM)%20for,of%20tuples%2C%20grouped%20into%20relations https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relational_model#:~:text=The%2.... > if you're arguing words have specific meanings...they no longer do. More on that: Recently Zoom the company was fined 85 million because it used the term "End-to-End encryption" inappropriately in its marketing materials. They could have tried to defend themselves by saying "The word end-to-end-encryption" no longer has a specific meaning, therefore we can use it to mean anything we want". But obviously that would not have worked I don't think. https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2021/08/zoom-to-pay-85m-for-lying-about-encryption-and-sending-data-to-facebook-and-google/ https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2021/08/zoom-to-pay-85m-...