Re:Foundation DB Record Layer SQL API
by jwr on Thursday May 08, 2025 @09:07AM
(#43925755)
> grave misconceptions regarding the true value of products like Oracle, MSSQL and DB2
In the context of this discussion, I would offer that we are getting into "apples vs oranges" comparisons here.
If you are doing custom queries for building reports where each report needs to access humongous amounts of data, SQL databases are likely a good fit.
If you need a fast and yet correct distributed database (for fault tolerance) for an online app backend, where the data and query patterns are known and do not change much over time and all retrieval is done using indexes, SQL databases are not a great fit, "big boy" or not.
As for "questioning if the business was ever viable to begin with", as a solo founder SaaS builder, I would humbly point you to numerous HN discussions where people are OUTRAGED at any subscriptions, and expect software to be an inexpensive one-time purchase. But that's a separate discussion.
In the context of this discussion, I would offer that we are getting into "apples vs oranges" comparisons here.
If you are doing custom queries for building reports where each report needs to access humongous amounts of data, SQL databases are likely a good fit.
If you need a fast and yet correct distributed database (for fault tolerance) for an online app backend, where the data and query patterns are known and do not change much over time and all retrieval is done using indexes, SQL databases are not a great fit, "big boy" or not.
As for "questioning if the business was ever viable to begin with", as a solo founder SaaS builder, I would humbly point you to numerous HN discussions where people are OUTRAGED at any subscriptions, and expect software to be an inexpensive one-time purchase. But that's a separate discussion.