Re: [Gnumed-devel] Help menu > About database � size

[Karsten Hilbert]

On Fri, Aug 02, 2013 at 11:49:40PM +0000, Jim Busser wrote:

> Presently, we have among the users of GNUmed
> 
> A.  a few people who are quite familiar with postgres ("IT types")
> 
> B.  a few people who have a very limited ability to do a few things 
> (including run the backup scripts) ("alpha and beta tester types")
> 
> C.  a few people who run the client (any maybe even got their own db going) 
> but do not themselves do any backing up except maybe imaging their hard drive 
> ("normal users"?)

I agree.

> A. "IT types" have no need to for the client software to inform about 
> anything they can themselves determine from the command line, or psql, or 
> inspection of logs or backup directories and, typical of the IT point of 
> view,  they also see absolutely no reason why users should be given the 
> opportunity to be confused by this kind of information
> 
> B. "alpha and beta tester types" can do what the "IT types" can do but often 
> only with a lot of work and having to check somewhere on their computer, in a 
> file where they recorded how, exactly, they did what they did and what are 
> the commands to do it along with the names of the directories. For such 
> types, it is partially informative and slightly reassuring to easily be able 
> to know something about the size of their database, in case they should have 
> to be restoring it somewhere. In my case, the PostgreSQL package occupies 
> only 1 Mb. No matter that various non-GNUmed databases occupy some space, it 
> is surely my gnumed_v18 --- which is currently > 700 Mb --- that is going to 
> be the main determinant of how much free space I am going to need in a VM or 
> a makeshift server if my laptop should become nonfunctional. 
> 
> C.  "normal users" find it interesting to know some
> statistics from their system, such as the number of patients
> registered. While it could be argued "well, but that's
> clinical" there will also exist within the praxis clinical
> and administrative leaders who, despite not themselves being
> IT, need to be interacting with the IT people and giving
> some of these "non IT people" access to information however
> crude, such as
>
> - how big is the database, therefore why are you insisting to upsell us on 
> terabytes and petabytes?
> - how many users are connected in how many sessions at any time?
> 
> sorry and maybe the above is slanted or unfair (it's not
> intended to be) but it is a feeling that A may not be
> understanding why B and C might see value to this kind of
> information. But maybe B and C are not understanding A.

Are you saying that the GNUmed client should inform the user
about how to provision their infrastructure ? We've got
plenty action in making sure to deliver a useful clinical
system.

I suppose their is no way around really knowing the stuff
rather than relying on pseudo numbers if one is to decide
rather than trust. At which point you are not C anymore but
rather B.

That is also why Informed Shared Decision Making DOESN'T
REALLY WORK at the core in a way a politician might think
and the combination of both is any lawyer's wet dream.

Karsten
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