[PLUG] Contact Management Software

[AthlonRob]

Rich Shepard wrote:
>   I've really missed it the past few years. So I'm doing something about 
> it. There's a web-based app that's hardwired for mysql that I'm converting to
> postgres and probably into a stand-alone application. It is F/OSS so 
> I'll be happy to release the finished product under the GPL. The original author 
> had some major boo-boos in his sql table design; for example, creating a 
> primary key field with a default of ' '. There are no screen shots, demos, or
> detailed coverage of what it does and how it does it. Gotta' infer that 
> from the tables and code.

Just out of curiosity... for something such as this, why take the time 
to port it from MySQL to Postres?

If you need a full-fledged database, MySQL vs PostreSQL is like Linux vs 
FreeBSD.  I would hazard to guess you could probably do fine with 
something like SQLite or maybe even just BDB in this case, and will 
probably gain next to nothing by porting it over to Postres except fewer 
people will be able to use it out-of-the-box.

>   Anyway, I've converted the tables now and will look at using BOND or
> something similar to create the UI. The middleware will need to be 
> translated from php to python or C. My intention is to make it business-type agnostic.
> Doesn't matter if you are selling your services as a consultant, cabinet
> hardware to builders, machine tools, insurance, or real estate. Many of the
> CRM tools I've seen are software-development-centric.

My vote is for Python... more cross-platform capable and much easier to 
get off the ground quickly.  However, web applications *do* have their 
advantages, especially for things such as this.

>   If anyone would like to help, please contact me off the list. I think 
> this can be knocked out in a couple of weeks.

While my free time is horribly lacking at the moment with a decently 
sized database project that keeps growing larger, trying to help edit 
the Revised Slackware Essentials book before print, trying to get 
SlackSec a viable option for Slackware users, working on some Boinc 
stuff, and of course going to school... ACT! like software has 
interested me since I had a customer who used it so much.  If you set up 
some sort of a developer mailing list, I'd like to subscribe to watch, 
if you don't mind.  :-)

Rob