[comp.unix.questions] Reinventing the Wheel

emc@unicus.UUCP (Eric M. Carroll) (05/04/87)

I need to find out about application software available for Unix. As per
usual unix standards, I don't have a common machine that everyone sells
binaries for (they ain't Suns or ATs). I want to set up some office
sorts of things (databases, order trackers, etc). This must have been
done before, and I think reinventing it all would be a waste of
intelligent programmers ( 1/2 :-), flames to /dev/null). So,
given some Generic Thing That Has Surely Been Done Before, how do I find
out in this amorphous world called unix who has done it and how much it
costs? Is there some compendium of software vendors for Orphan Machines?
Will it cost me my first child to purchase sources? Does anyone even
do this sort of thing under unix? Would an IBMish thing with Unix provide 
an acceptable compromise (ie it is unix, thus can maybe network coherently, 
cheap per hardware unit and binaries available)? I would like to avoid
the obvious solution of either buying Suns (for binary solutions) or PCs
(for MSDOS solutions).

We are running System Vr2v2, with an upgrade to V.3 and RFS in the works. 
We need software to do accounting (payable, receivable) do order taking 
and tracking, manage and track purchase orders and take and track customer 
orders. As we are a Unix shop, I would like to go with what we know, and
do it with Unix. I suspect a competent DBMS could handle nearly all of this. 
Comments from anyone who has experience with producing a semi-paperless 
office under Unix would be appreciated

If there is a sufficient response, I will summarize to the net, as I suspect
this is of common interest.

-- 
	Eric Carroll 			Unicus Corporation, Toronto Ont.
	Eric.M.Carroll@Unicus.COM				  (Internet)
	{seismo!mnetor, utzoo!utgpu!utcsri}!unicus!Eric.M.Carroll (dumb UUCP)
	mnetor!unicus!Eric.M.Carroll@seismo.css.GOV		  (dumb ARPA)