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What if someday, you decide that you want to change the database because CouchDB was bought by Oracle? You'll have to clone Couch's REST API or you may break yo

by emsy 13y ago

What if someday, you decide that you want to change the database because CouchDB was bought by Oracle? You'll have to clone Couch's REST API or you may break your clients.

MetaCosm 13y ago
Yep. There is a reason people abstract things. Sometimes people get a new toy and just go a bit overboard, want that one tool to solve all their problems. Don't get me wrong, CouchDB is awesome, but it isn't the answer to everything.
janl 13y ago
CouchDB can’t be bought by Oracle or anyone, since it is run as an independent Open Source project and under an organisation (the Apache Software Foundation) that allows and supports commercial entities contributing, but single vendors can never control the project in a way that a single vendor product could. You are still vulnerable to CouchDB as a project folding, but since it is all Open Source and open discussions, that one is easy to find early on. And finally, you could just use one of the other implementations of the CouchDB API available :)
- emsy 13y ago
  Of course the "Oracle buys CouchDB" scenario wasn't meant serious :). But the point still stands. There may be much more trivial cases which can drive an user to switch from CouchDB and CouchDB derivatives to another DB. E.g. the user figured that a relational DB suits his use case better after all.
Lazare 13y ago
As others have noted, as an Apache project, the CouchDB project can't be "purchased by Oracle". Obviously you meant that somewhat metaphorically (and as a reference to MySQL), but it's worth noting: MySQL was the product of a private company. It was always possible for it to be purchased, and that eventually happened. The same is true for many modern databases, including most of the major NoSQL databases. CouchDB cannot be. Yes, there's risk of the project could die in a variety of ways, but there is an entire class of risks that CouchDB is not subject to, when most of its competitors are. If you really want to avoid having your DB purhcased and killed by Oracle, you'd actually prefer CouchDB over, eg, MongoDB. Beyond that, you say: "You'll have to clone Couch's REST API". That's actually the other half of what makes CouchDB a safer bet: The HTTP protocol is itself open source, well documented, and has already been cloned repeatedly. It's used by quite a few different projects in different ways, including PouchDB, CouchDB, TouchDB, Hoodie.io, BigCouch, and CouchBase Lite. If you're curious about the topic, I recommend this blog post: http://caolanmcmahon.com/posts/couchdb_is_not_a_database/ http://caolanmcmahon.com/posts/couchdb_is_not_a_database/
- emsy 13y ago
  Thanks for the link. CouchDB really sounds more like a platform/framework. As for the points you mentioned, refer to my answer to janl.

by emsy 13y ago

What if someday, you decide that you want to change the database because CouchDB was bought by Oracle? You'll have to clone Couch's REST API or you may break your clients.

MetaCosm 13y ago

Yep. There is a reason people abstract things. Sometimes people get a new toy and just go a bit overboard, want that one tool to solve all their problems. Don't get me wrong, CouchDB is awesome, but it isn't the answer to everything.

janl 13y ago

CouchDB can’t be bought by Oracle or anyone, since it is run as an independent Open Source project and under an organisation (the Apache Software Foundation) that allows and supports commercial entities contributing, but single vendors can never control the project in a way that a single vendor product could. You are still vulnerable to CouchDB as a project folding, but since it is all Open Source and open discussions, that one is easy to find early on. And finally, you could just use one of the other implementations of the CouchDB API available :)

emsy 13y ago
Of course the "Oracle buys CouchDB" scenario wasn't meant serious :). But the point still stands. There may be much more trivial cases which can drive an user to switch from CouchDB and CouchDB derivatives to another DB. E.g. the user figured that a relational DB suits his use case better after all.

Lazare 13y ago

As others have noted, as an Apache project, the CouchDB project can't be "purchased by Oracle". Obviously you meant that somewhat metaphorically (and as a reference to MySQL), but it's worth noting: MySQL was the product of a private company. It was always possible for it to be purchased, and that eventually happened. The same is true for many modern databases, including most of the major NoSQL databases. CouchDB cannot be. Yes, there's risk of the project could die in a variety of ways, but there is an entire class of risks that CouchDB is not subject to, when most of its competitors are. If you really want to avoid having your DB purhcased and killed by Oracle, you'd actually prefer CouchDB over, eg, MongoDB. Beyond that, you say: "You'll have to clone Couch's REST API". That's actually the other half of what makes CouchDB a safer bet: The HTTP protocol is itself open source, well documented, and has already been cloned repeatedly. It's used by quite a few different projects in different ways, including PouchDB, CouchDB, TouchDB, Hoodie.io, BigCouch, and CouchBase Lite. If you're curious about the topic, I recommend this blog post: http://caolanmcmahon.com/posts/couchdb_is_not_a_database/ http://caolanmcmahon.com/posts/couchdb_is_not_a_database/

emsy 13y ago
Thanks for the link. CouchDB really sounds more like a platform/framework. As for the points you mentioned, refer to my answer to janl.