Hi, I'm touched that Julien thought of me to be employed to work on Base, but being fully occupied, and beyond, by my own business, I'm not available for employ (at reasonable market rates for a programmer).
I do think that the whole scripting ecosystem, and doing SQL database-driven data entry, analysis, screen-ready and print-ready reporting etc is a strategically important feature, and my business became dependent on that. I would gladly enter a consortium or some other system to pool resources to finance a developer whose job it is to fix user-blocking bugs, deep issues that only get worse with time like: * dependency on HSQLDB1.8 * finishing Firebird integration well, * dependency on a local copy of an external reporting engine that hasn't been updated in ages * fundamentally fix predictability of the order of events in Base scriptable GUI controls (it is a mess of race conditions) * better PostgreSQL support (such as table/view/... design) On Fri, Mar 25, 2022 at 08:27:06AM +0000, Michael Weghorn wrote: > Hi Julien, > > thanks a lot for the input! > > Michael > > PS: I've fixed Lionel's email address now, something went wrong when I > copy-pasted it into my previous email. > > On 25/03/2022 09.18, Julien Nabet wrote: > > Hello, > > > > Here are some thoughts about Base. > > > > Some years ago, there was some decision to reduce our Java dependency (a > > very good thing). > > > > Main point was to replace HSQLDB part by another database (there are > > good ones like MySQL/MariaDB and Postgresql) but which also allowed > > embedding, with a compatible license and with a not dead community, so > > Firebird was chosen. > > > > In addition to Lionel (who is the Base expert for those who don't > > already know it), there have been 2 people who mainly worked on it: > > Andrzej J.R. Hunt and Tamas Bunth. The last one had even implemented a > > tool to migrate automatically from HSQLDB to Firebird. > > > > Andrzej left Firebird part long time ago and Tamas left some years after > > him (just to be clear, I see no pb here, each one has his > > life/constraints/desire/whatever) > > > > In parallel, Firebird has been put "in production" as by default > > embedded database and automatic migration set as by default. A lot of > > bugtrackers have been created and even if some part has been fixed, > > there were too much. > > > > So I first put in experimental automatic migration part then Firebird by > > default + creation part (you can still open a Firebird embedded in non > > experimental). > > > > > > Now we use HSQLDB 1.8 which is quite old and Firebird support is not > > ready, the pb is Lionel has far less availability and there's no one who > > replaced him. I gave a try to tackle some bugs but I'm not brainy enough > > to fix harder ones. > > > > > > Firebird is not the only pb, charts aren't displayed anymore in reports > > and the whole reports part is dependent on old Java external components. > > > > There are also address books pbs: > > > > - Mac one (eg : leaks but not only this, Alex may tell more about this > > I suppose) > > > > - Thunderbird one can't be used anymore after Mork->Sqlite migration. > > > > > > I also think about Base stumbling on some specific functions added to > > standard SQL by some databases which can be workaround sometimes but not > > always. > > > > > > So yes, hiring 1 or 2 people on Base part could be relevant unless we'd > > like to abandon Base. Just to put it clearly here too, I'm not speaking > > for me since I already got a job and above all, wouldn't be able to do > > this job, I'm rather thinking about Lionel (if he agrees of course! > > :-)). > > > > I really think a strong decision (hiring people or abandon it) should be > > made instead of letting it rot. > > > > > > PS1: I'm adding Robert and Alex here since they're the main QA for Base > > part and may provide extra info. > > > > PS2: Lionel, don't hesitate to complete (or correct if I made some > > mistakes) what I said. > > > > > > On 25/03/2022 06:50, Michael Weghorn wrote: > > > > > > Hi Paolo, > > > > > > thanks for the updated draft and integrating my references to meta bugs. > > > > > > Another potential focus area might be Base (the database module). > > > > > > Alex mentioned it in another thread (that had a different main > > > focus) [1] and I've heard from time to time that it isn't in the > > > best shape. > > > > > > There's tdf#120062 [2] as a meta bug for database related bugs and > > > enhancements. > > > > > > I'm not using Base myself, though, and don't have any overview of > > > its current status. > > > I've seen Julien doing some work there recently. Maybe he, Lionel or > > > anybody else might be able to say more on whether it would make > > > sense to consider that as a potential area to be worked on by TDF > > > in-house developers. > > > > > > > > > Best regards, > > > Michael > > > > > > [1] > > > https://listarchives.documentfoundation.org/www/board-discuss/2022/msg00060.html > > > > > > [2] > > > https://bugs.documentfoundation.org/showdependencytree.cgi?id=120062&hide_resolved=1 > > > > -- To unsubscribe e-mail to: [email protected] Problems? https://www.libreoffice.org/get-help/mailing-lists/how-to-unsubscribe/ Posting guidelines + more: https://wiki.documentfoundation.org/Netiquette List archive: https://listarchives.documentfoundation.org/www/board-discuss/ Privacy Policy: https://www.documentfoundation.org/privacy
