[off-topic add-on] Re: [mv] minivend and sql, it is not true

[Birgitt Funk <birgitt@minivend.com>]

On Wed, 27 Oct 1999, Raj Goel wrote:

> ******    message to minivend-users from Raj Goel <frostbit@brainlink.com>     ******
> 
> On  0, Otis Gospodnetic <otis@dominis.com> wrote:
> > 
> > Since you have almost everything working, could you maybe share the
> > ideas/experience/code?

[snip]

> > 
> > Do you think you could do that?
> 
> 	I'm not sure that's possible primarily because the project was
> non-trivial.  We spent 1 year, $ 250K and had developers in 5 countries
> develop the www.townspeak.com portal.
> 
> 	Granted, we've added other things like www-based email, calendars,
> etc., but the MV portion itself was quite a challenge.  From simple things
> like making MV work with Oracle8 to complex things like online/offline
> product management.
> 
[snip]

> 
> 	The technology is also available under license.
> 
> 	MV is GPL and that stays as it.  The code developed for/with
> Oracle8, etc. is definitely not GPL and that falls under our license.
> 

******    message to minivend-users from "Mr. Christopher F. Miller"
<cfm@maine.com>     ******

> We've been working with Minivend and Vend for, I think, 4 years and
> we are still learning.  Running a store is complex.  So is running
> an online store.  But given the proper access permissions, minivend
> can do anything with SQL.  Who said "easy"?

> Really, the simple and sample catalogs are pretty good.  Even a simple
> catalog with SQL back end implies all sorts of stuff about a system that
> would be very hard to document by example.

> Anyone who wishes to move much beyond those catalogs needs to
> hire a perl/db person or turn into one.

> It's highly unrealistic for anyone to expect to find workable code
> allowing them to build a multi-level minivend site (as someone recently
> asked), let alone documentation for that, how to build your own Amazon,
> how to do all of the above on Windows 98 or with an ftp-only account,
> etc....  You will be frustrated when you do not get an answer.
    
I thought I was right when my guts feeling told me that turning oneself
into that perl/db person is MUCH more important than racing against
the current of the mighty "Amazon", but had no idea that I was sooo
far off in what it costs to make the "Ganges". 

250K, five developers to make MV do what you wanted it to do ? And
that based on a MV GPL ? 

I am pretty sure that from early on MV was supposed to become ONE or THE
e-commerce solution for the independent (at that time most probably
also still small) ISP. Something every ISP could use and compete
with. I think that was the main motivation of Mike Heins to make
it GPL, so that everybody could get into the game. (I hope that
I am not too much guessing here, but I don't believe so. If I am wrong
I send my apologies in direction to Mike Heins).

Does this mean that an individual ISP/developer can't compete
anymore at this kind of price tag ? 

Birgitt Funk