Jim Starkey wrote:

> If I were doing it, I'd create a Window's
> GUI in C++ for the front end and C++ for the administration server. I
> have a lifetime ambition never to do another Unix GUI, so if we go that
> path, it's either Wine or somebody else's front end.
>
> Any thoughts?

This seems like a good plan, except that I _respectfully_ question the
wisdom of creating a reference implementation of the front end targeted
directly to the Windows API, particularly when the database itself is so
promiscuously cross platform.

Why not use a cross platform toolkit such as wxWidgets? Even if it is
someone else's problem to port the app to other platforms, this simple
toolkit decision can make the difference between that happening or not.

I raise this question here because such development decisions have an
impact on Firebird's "mind share" amongst OSS developers. We invited
Helen B. to speak about Firebird at the Open Source Developers
Conference (OSDC) in Melbourne Australia and it was clear from my follow
up chats with others that there was a perception of Firebird that it was
a "Windows thing". The lack of cross platform admin tools can hardly
help this situation.

Then again, maybe the issue of broadening Firebird's "mind share" is
unimportant to the core team who do that hard work and if so, fair
enough. You do the work, you get what you want.

Cheers
--
Adam Clarke
Strategic Data Pty Ltd