On Sun, Apr 5, 2009 at 10:40 AM, Peter Schlumpf <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> I want to get back to simple things.  Imagine if there were no Marc records.  Minimal layers of abstraction.  No politics.  No vendors.  No SQL straightjacket.  What would an ILS look like without those things?

Back to this original question, when I imagine these things, I imagine
building an ILS that relies on an unusual data persistence backend,
discounts industry-standard data formats, and explicitly ignores the
political concerns of adopting, deploying, and maintaining it.

And I get a little bit nervous.

For what it's worth (and I think this touches on the ontological
discussion in this thread, too) -- my experience has been that it's
easier to build a piece of software that solves a problem
compellingly, solving technical hurdles as you need to than it is to
come up with solutions to anticipated technical problems before
starting on making a product.

More concretely: if you build a software product, I don't care at all
whether it's based on a SQL straitjacket or a luscious RDF comforter.
I care if it solves a problem well, and that I can install it and run
it easily.

Cheers,
-Nate