Firebird not experimental

[Juan C. Sanz]

TLTR. Propose Take Firebird out of experimental mode and explain 
author’s opinion about current situation of Firebird implementation, and 
the benefits of put it in service.


      Background

Base is undoubtedly the ugly duckling of LibreOffice.

The reasons why, in my opinion Base is not more used are

  *

    The only type of embedded databases that the normal user sees when
    he wants to create a database is HSQLDB. Since the days of
    OpenOffice, these databases have a reputation for being slow, and,
    more importantly, for corrupting data, rendering the database unusable.

  *

    Databases are less and less used in small businesses and households,
    having been replaced by “databases” made in spreadsheets.

  *

    Databases appear to be very difficult to understand for a normal user.

  *

    User interface is somewhat outdated

  *

    Base does not provide some facilities that other more popular DBMSs do.


      Firebird implementation. Back to experimental mode

Firebird started to be implemented as the default database to replace 
HSQLDB in order to avoid the use of Java and increase the database 
handling speed.

In addition to the creation of the Firebird driver, an attempt was made 
to perform the procedure of automatic migration of HSQLDB databases to 
the new Firebird database engine.

After a while, the combination of some Firebird bugs with several bugs 
in the migration procedure forced to put Firebird and the migration 
procedure back in experimental mode.

Going back to experimental mode, makes Firebird hidden from most 
potential Base users, who only see the outdated, slow and corruptible 
HSQLDB. This causes the user to stop paying attention to Base, which 
leads to developers also stopping paying attention to Base.


      Current status of Firebird implementation

According to TDF#51780 
<https://bugs.documentfoundation.org/show_bug.cgi?id=51780> 
/(Database-Firebird-Default) - [META] Default to Firebird not HSQLDB in 
Base (for new_files)/, there currently do not appear to be any bugs that 
actually affect the functionality of the Firebird database engine.

Most are enhancement requests to take advantage of capabilities that 
Firebird has that do not exist in other databases or are implemented in 
a different way (e.g. TDF#151344 
<https://bugs.documentfoundation.org/show_bug.cgi?id=151344>, TDF#148266 
<https://bugs.documentfoundation.org/show_bug.cgi?id=148266> o 
TDF#148663 
<https://bugs.documentfoundation.org/show_bug.cgi?id=148663>), others 
are errors which also exist in other databases (e.g.TDF#144256 
<https://bugs.documentfoundation.org/show_bug.cgi?id=144256>), and 
finally, others are lack of understanding of how Firebird works or how 
it is configured (e.g. TDF#135616 
<https://bugs.documentfoundation.org/show_bug.cgi?id=135616>).


      HSQLDB Migration

According to TDF#116968 
<https://bugs.documentfoundation.org/show_bug.cgi?id=116968>/(Database-Firebird-Migration) 
- [META] Migrating existing embedded HSQLDB databases to Firebird/,there 
do not seem to be any serious problems preventing its use, but in any 
case, the migration process should not be automatic, in my point of 
view. Very few databases offer a migration process from one database to 
another, unless there is a commercial and/or economic interest in doing so.

That is why the migration process should not be proposed in such an 
invasive way when you open a HSQLDB database and at the same time you 
are using Firebird (because you have activated the experimental 
functions). This process could be associated to a wizard or an 
independent menu option.


      Proposal

In considering the above, I propose to the ESC (or whomever it may concern):

  *

    Take Firebird out of experimental mode. Although it is not strictly
    necessary for it to be the default database, I think it would be
    preferable.

  *

    Decouple HSQLDB migration from the existence or not of Firebird.

  *

    Support and promote the use of Base as well as assist the
    development of Base into a reliable and modern database (support
    this long overdue bidding process).

Simply the first measure, I believe would serve so that collaborators 
that are working in Firebird (for example, Firebird 5 implementation 
¡somebody is trying it!), do not feel discouraged before any problem. 
The current situation would lead to the collaborators to think that 
their work is wasting time in a database that is going to be always 
cornered.

Regards

-- 
*Juan C. Sanz*
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