Is the command line the only way to free software?

[richard.pieri-Re5JQEeQqe8AvxtiuMwx3w at public.gmane.org (Richard Pieri)]

On Mar 18, 2010, at 1:37 AM, Lim, Seung Chan wrote:
> 
> Cool! Sounds like a schema-less key/value pair (where you form a data
> object as a collection of key/value pairs) repository! Am I right?

Close enough that I wouldn't argue the point. :)

> I recently heard about the NoSQL movement, which sounds a lot like the
> rest of the world realizing the value of the simple repository of
> schemaless key/value pair idea. Perhaps I'm wrong. I hope I'm right,
> though...

Schema-less is not the be-all, end-all.  One of the problems with Newton's model is that data like text documents and tables don't fit well in the soup model.  Working with them in NewtonScript is just as cumbersome as working with non-tabular data is in Oracle.  There is no One True Perfect Solution; there are only tools.  The trick is to use the right tool for the job.  I point at WinFS as an example of the wrong tool: Microsoft tried to bung everything into a relational table (MS SQL) model.  It didn't work.

One little tidbit that isn't commonly known about Newton: the development team thought that they were building Macintosh's replacement.  That's why they made it a complete, standalone system from the ground up rather than a companion device.  Newton's data storage model isn't something that could be bolted onto an existing system without feeling, well, bolted on.  That's why I don't see the filesystem-based storage model going away any time soon.  Practically everything we do with computers is designed around that storage model.  Distributed storage and computing have a chance to push things in that direction but there still needs to be a fundamental rethink of use and security.  It could happen in my lifetime; it would take someone with enough capital (either cash or social) to push it in
 to the mainstream consciousness.

--Rich P.