Jason L. Froebe: Ramblings of a Geek

By Elisa Gabbert, Assistant Editor
15 Aug 2006 | SearchOracle.com

A recent column by Mich Talebzedah touting the merits of Sybase on Linux over Oracle as a database management system (DBMS) has our readers riled up.

Anil Mahadev is a DBA and tech writer whose company, based in India, manages Oracle, SQL Server, DB2 and Sybase databases. Having worked with both Oracle and Sybase systems, Mahadev finds that Sybase is "definitely easier to manage and use." He cited seven reasons to opt for Sybase, including programming advantages, startup time and ease of installation. He also concurs with Talebzedah’s claim that switching from Sybase to Oracle is rarely worth the trouble.  Read more….

I have to agree with both sides of the discussion.  Sybase’s (and Microsoft’s for that matter) Transact SQL is very limiting for a developer.  Oracle’s PL/SQL is a far more mature SQL dialect.

Compared to other SQL dialects, TSQL appears to be archaic in both functionality and extendability.  Both vendors have made attempts to developer usability with .NET (Microsoft) and Java (Sybase) with varied success.  When calling in an issue involving either a .NET assembly or a java class, Microsoft’s support staff tend to be better trained than Sybase’s support staff, in so much as Microsoft’s support staff are able to determine whom internally they need to contact for help. 

Sybase’s support of Java in the database is limited to a very small number of tech support people.  There isn’t a whole lot of demand for Sybase’s java in the database due to the high cost of this add on and ongoing stability and performance issues with the JVM being run from within ASE itself.

The extendability of the open source DBMSs MySQL and Postgres far exceed their proprietary counterparts (Oracle, MS SQL Server, Sybase ASE).  Not only are there many interpretors that can be used in lieu of SQL, but you can create your own with little trouble.  The commercial companies should take note of this.