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RethinkDB is shutting down

rethinkdb.com

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Re: RethinkDB is shutting down

#21

Post by manigandham »

toomuchtodo wrote: post #13
bhouston wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

MongoDB is like the Microsoft of operating systems. Well promoted and easy to get going with. Hopefully they use the money they have to rewrite MongoDB to be better.

Okay...but if Rethink couldn't make their business self-sustaining, why would Mongo when there are a plethora of other open source databases/datastores that can do Mongo's job better than Mongo? EDIT: We'll just wait for Mongo to burn through all their cash then.

Business is about more than just the product, even if that product is better than the competitors.

Re: RethinkDB is shutting down

#22

Post by habitue »

niahmiah wrote: post #2

Quite a sad development. I always thought they would have found more success if they had adopted MongoDB's API (or similar).

Personally I'm really glad we didn't go that route. ReQL is an amazing, well thought out language. You could make the same argument about Mongo should have emulated SQL. In practice other factors dominate.

Re: RethinkDB is shutting down

#23

Post by chipotle_coyote »

tbrock wrote: post #5

I hope this isn't true. Having worked at/on multiple competitors I have nothing but respect and admiration for the work the RethinkDB team has done to make a great database and development platform. This was real technology! I'm truly sad that the environment is such that great work like this can't continue to be funded. Thanks for showing everyone how to write amazing documentation, caring about the fundamentals, an…

Everyone at RethinkDB was incredible to work with.

Thanks for showing everyone how to write amazing documentation

Thank you! (Really. I'm RethinkDB's documentation writer/editor.)

Re: RethinkDB is shutting down

#24

Post by nine_k »

aeharding wrote: post #16

Very sad to hear, but hopefully the software will continue to be developed in an open source format. Keep this in mind when you invest in a certain technology: some organizations, especially nonprofits (for example, the Apache Software Foundation, Python Software Foundation, the new Node Foundation) are probably going to support and develop their software for extended periods of time relative to, say, a startup or fo…

This is why the key product should be open-source. Else it's too scary to invest in it: what if the company behind it folds, and you end up in a dead end?

Only certain super-behemoths like Microsoft or Apple can afford to have their infrastructure products being closed-source.

Re: RethinkDB is shutting down

#25

Post by kevindeasis »

Ive been teaching my siblings programming. It took them literally a day to learn rethinkDB.

That should say a lot about how amazing RethinkDB is. It's unfortunate to see this get shut down as RethinkDB is pretty easy to work with

Re: RethinkDB is shutting down

#26

Post by jarrettch »

Just started a new project at my company using RethinkDB, very early stages, but I was amazed at how well this was documented and implemented. Coming from different ORMs to use with MongoDB, ReQL was a joy to work with and I didn't even want to use an ORM(for me at least, others may disagree).

Sad day to me, but as an open source tech, I hope and trust it will continue to live on.

It sounds like the company landed at Stripe. Good for them. Glad they weren't left out in the cold.

Thank you all very much for your hard work. In my short period of time I have had using RethinkDB, it's been a pleasure to work with.

Re: RethinkDB is shutting down

#27

Post by omginternets »

toomuchtodo wrote: post #13
bhouston wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

MongoDB is like the Microsoft of operating systems. Well promoted and easy to get going with. Hopefully they use the money they have to rewrite MongoDB to be better.

Okay...but if Rethink couldn't make their business self-sustaining, why would Mongo when there are a plethora of other open source databases/datastores that can do Mongo's job better than Mongo? EDIT: We'll just wait for Mongo to burn through all their cash then.

Because having the better product (often) doesn't matter: see Windows vs Apple in the early days.

Mongo has a strong community, which translates into a plethora of articles/blog-posts/tutorials/etc that secures its niche. From there it's possible to make money with things like consulting fees to help fix the problems it created in the first place.

It's all about execution. Case and point: I know what (purportedly) makes MongoDB special. I have no idea what RethinkDB is supposed to do, other than store data. Yes, I could check their site, but the point is I'm already familiar with Mongo's reputation. All of this contributes to a lesser product winning over a better one.

Re: RethinkDB is shutting down

#28

Post by uptown »

Bummer. Had Rethink in my list of things to eventually tinker-with. Is it stable where it should still be considered as a viable choice for your tech stack, or is this pretty much a deal-breaker?

Re: RethinkDB is shutting down

#29

Post by williamstein »

jmcgough wrote: post #12

I'm not familiar with RethinkDB - what was their monetization strategy?

Sell support contracts. Kind of similar to MongoDB's strategy, but they were too late to the party. Also the "support" open source business model doesn't always scale well and works better when the product quality and documentation isn't so first rate (like Rethinkdb's is).
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