> -----Original Message----- > From: Christopher Browne [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > Sent: Monday, September 01, 2003 12:43 PM > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subject: Re: [GENERAL] delivering database stand-alone > > > Martha Stewart called it a Good Thing > [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Joost Kremers)wrote: > > i am planning to build a database (a dictionary in fact) > that i will > > eventually want to distribute on a cd (or downloadable iso). what i > > would like to know is if this is technically possible with > postgresql. > > and how exactly would it be done? would i have to make > postgresql run > > off the cd, or should it first be installed to the hard disk? (the > > latter would be problematic on linux, given the many > different distros > > and their different package management systems...) how would i deal > > with systems that already have a postgreql server or (more > difficult > > perhaps) a different database server running? > > > > or should i not make use of postgresql (or any database > server) at all > > for the cd? after all, the data in the database is static, > users will > > not have to modify it, just look it up. > > This sounds like a candidate for Dan Bernstein's "CDB" (Constant > DataBase) library. It builds highly efficient "compiled" > hash tables, that are intended to be treated as "read-only." > (In fact, they can't readily be updated, once compiled.) > > That presents three issues: > > 1. It's basically doing "hash table" access; no ordering; no > approximate matches. > > 2. No ability to submit SQL queries. > > 3. Discussions of DJB's licensing arrangements tends to cause brain > haemorraging, anger, and other ills. The Debian folk have > created an alternative version that I believe is in the > public domain (e.g. - not GPL; not LGPL; possibly "freer than > the BSD License"). > > In contrast, read-only access to PostgreSQL databases is, > while occasionally discussed, not currently attainable. > (Not, at least, in a "burn the DB on CD" form.)
Something else to consider: http://www.garret.ru/~knizhnik/databases.html All freely available and open source. They all use OO paradigm, and so will be uncomfortable for those who are not used to it. ---------------------------(end of broadcast)--------------------------- TIP 2: you can get off all lists at once with the unregister command (send "unregister YourEmailAddressHere" to [EMAIL PROTECTED])
