In a project, is there a choice of database systems?

Question

In almost all projects, the choice of the database system is 'almost' automatic .. if you're coding "in the Microsoft stack" you'll go with SQLServer, in the Linux world the default is MySQL, and for corporate in-house project most shops have decided on some default like Oracle or IBM DB2.

What are your thoughts?

Answer 1

I tried all three approaches. I still use MySQL for web sites, but for in-house projects I rather choose Firebird or Postgres.

The reason is that they are free (both as in beer and speech), much less bloated (Firebird installer is just few MB, for example) and still do the job very well.

The main benefit you get is that the same thing scales from embedded to enterprise level, so there's no "first try is free, but you'll pay a lot later" kind of story behind it. I've seen Firebird databases of 200+ GB working just as fine as 1MB one in an embedded application I make.

Answer 2

My customers often stipulate what database engine we will be using. We write .net apps against non-SQLServer dbs regularly. In the long run, it's better for the customer because they get to maintain what they know.