Tuesday, March 16, 2010

GNUmed server on MS Windows - changes ahead

In the beginning it was virtually impossible to get the GNUmed server running on MS Windows. Over time we have managed to advance from pure documentation to all-in-one packages to silent installation of PostgreSQL. For the majority of the users that has worked. For some it did not. The problems are not easily sorted out and all sides have their share in this. Basically it boils down to PostgreSQL being what it is - a sophisticated database server. Our user could not care less. If I was a user I would ask for the best database server out there and flawless installation at the same time. And they do.

Different from the client there is no easy solution for this. I have decided to go the extra mile and provide both the easiest and best practice installation method. This is possible but not at the same time. There will be one version we could call demo version. This version will install a client and server fully preconfigured. It will be just that - a demo version. You can try GNUmed on a Windows PC but you cannot (better should not) turn that a network wide database installation. There will be roadblocks to prevent this such as running the demo server on port 5433 instead of the default port 5432.

If at a later time one decides to go for a full GNUmed deployment then he or she needs to invest the time to properly install PostgreSQL and bootstrap a database. The boostrap process will change as well. The boostrapper will be frozen and no longer require a python installation.

Hopefully this will be a stable base for many upcoming GNUmed versions

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