Ann,

[feedback on proposed benefits]

You raise some good points. Perhaps being on the leading edge is a
negative for many people. The point about the quality of the
community was not intended to knock somebody else, but as a quality
of FB that I personally appreciate.

I will see what other feedback arrives over the next week and propose
a new, improved list of benefits, "brand values" if you like. Thanks
to all those who already provided feedback !!

> lets look at ways to convince people to use Firebird who
> would otherwise not consider an open source database.

That suggests that OS databases share a collective positioning that
sets them apart from proprietary db's with a collective positioning.
Although being open source is an important benefit of Firebird, it is
only a small part of the total benefit. We compete just as much with
MSSQL as with MySQL as with Sybase, etc.

> Why do people hesitate:
>
> 1) My application doesn't need a database at all. Databases are
> expensive, large, and high maintenance.
>
> 2) Open source products are risky, buggy, untested, and created by
> a bunch of lunatic 16 year olds in their bedrooms.
>
> 3) I've never heard of anyone doing it before.

Good points. I am not sure OS is still the uphill sell it was 5 years
ago. Anyway, I guess we need to look at convincing developers working
on a variety of solution stacks. Let's look at a few big ones:

Workgroup:
Main competitors MSSQL and MySQL. Advantages over MSSQL: open source,
no licensing issues, faster, no locking problems, ...; Advantages
over MySQL: no licensing issues, reliable, xcopy install, more
powerful features, ...
Our best chances are on focusing on PHP developers, because that is
what is currently winning the race in this segment.

Client/Server:
Main competitors MSSQL/MSDE and JET. Advantages over JET: reliable,
faster, scaleable, more powerful features, ...
We are already strong in this segment, which is still growing. Our
best opportunity is to focus on people currently locked into the MS
stack, confronted with .net changes, price rises and delays and
convince them that FB is the way to go. Think FrontRange.

Small ERP:
Very mixed, very broad competitor field, but MSSQL, DB2 and Oracle
are all present. All competitors are either not future proof or very
expensive. Market will likely double in the next five years. Our best
chances are to work with emerging open source ERP projects and
convince them to use Firebird. Another route is to target the
multitude of niche "vertical" solution providers and convince them of
the idea that their sell to the final user gets a lot easier if they
switch their product to FB.

The list of benefits that we believe in and push into the world
should cover all those groups, although each group will find
different benefits to be the most important.

Paul