how to have only 1 database for all configurations?

[jetdrone]

Hi,

One thing i am a big annoyed with KDE is that there are so many databases, there a DB for nepomuk, one for korganizer, one for amarok, one for digikam, etc... and they all are different, some embed mysql, sqlite, etc... why isn't there an option to just have 1 running server (may mysql for example) and all apps just share that db.

I didn't measure anything but i would expect that one db server would use less resources than embed 5 or more mysql servers for all applications that are running on my laptop/desktop.

Anyone shares the same idea?

[Snowhog]

Re: how to have only 1 database for all configurations?

Disagree.

IF a single DB could be used, the demand upon it would be huge. Also, a single DB for all would be, using the phrase, putting "all your eggs in one basket" and that would be risky. If for any reason that DB became corrupt and unstable, then all of the apps that depend on it become unstable or stop working. Not a desirable situation. :P

[blobfish]

Re: how to have only 1 database for all configurations?

IMHO. Amarok has some settings to switch to mysql....I think. No administration makes sqlite a good choice for a lot of apps. When you get into a database server, the administration may make the installation cumbersome for noobs who want a one click install. I am guessing sqlite is implemented in a shared object so I don't think it uses much more resources than a server. So having many applications running at once using sqlite won't bog your machine down too bad. Postgres creates a process for every connection made to the database, so I don't think having multiple apps that use the same database server will bog your machine down either. I have shot a whole bunch of bad sql into postgres and I have never seen the server crash. So I am not so sure I would be worried about bringing the server down. Database servers are also designed to be connected remotely, so you get into some security concerns when you consider akonadi indexing your hard drive and having a improperly configured server. After writing a usenet client on top of a database, I realize the end user head-aches associated with the installation and database administration.

[JontheEchidna]

Re: how to have only 1 database for all configurations?

I don't think it would cause the system any more strain than it already has. You're still hypothetically accessing multiple DB's at the same time will multiple server processes running. Multiple processes just increases the amount of memory needed for each individual server.

As for corruption, if the same server process was used, it would undoubtedly use separate tables for each use (amarok, akonadi, etc), so the risk of multiple tables being corrupted would probably be the same as the parition that these tables are on being corrupted. Not too much more of a risk than we already have, really.

A real problem is that of the database applications, they're all different. At least for Amarok, you have the ability to use an existing mysql server, but for the average user you'll usually have MySQLe for Amarok, a full-blown MySQL server for akonadi, and a virtuoso database for nepomuk, which akonadi also requires.

According to KSysGuard in KDE 4.5 (with it's nice "detailed memory usage" option in the context menu), the (empty) mysql server for akonadi running on my system is taking up 19.5 MiB, the virtuoso server is taking up 32.1 MB of RAM (I have indexing disabled, but virtuoso is required for nepomuk even without indexing). It's just a really unfortunate situation...