Re: Designing people and organization management for Emacs

[Jean Louis <bugs@gnu.support>]

* Eric S Fraga <e.fraga@ucl.ac.uk> [2020-12-04 12:57]:
> Some people use org-contacts (can be found in the org contrib package)
> for this.  I use bbdb.

Yes. I was using text files and spreadsheets, bbdb. Before many years
I switched to database backed management of any data that is
structured. And no, org-contacts or BBDB cannot replace the power of
SQL databases. 204111 contacts are in my database each available at
few key presses related.

Contacts are related to "products", BBDB without much development
cannot provide easy relation to products. Related to "calls" where
none of available Emacs software can initiate calls or handle a call
center with track record when each customer have been called and
why. This is trivial with SQL. Relation to "cashaccounts" to track
financial transaction of each person. Or relation to "comments" to
track who commented on which other piece of information in a database
based Emacs. Or "contactskills" that one can make list of related to
recruitment and hiring of staff. Or "emails", where each email can be
related to contact ID and vice versa. Which "identity" belongs to
which contact? People use private and business identities and
integration of such is not easy. Sometimes by error email is sent from
private identity to business. "locations" are related to people, there
are places we record by using GPS and waypoints that have to be
remembered, "mailings" are sent to people and have to be remembered
which person received which email as not to repeat it. Then "notes",
"opportunities", "relations" to other people, "reminders", "invoices",
"sms" and so on.

Many things may be rapidly developed in Emacs with database
backing. Database backed people and information management is
extremely useful.

I wish Emacs would have at least GDBM built in. Module will come to
GNU ELPA soon for PostgreSQL. Developers of it need help on how to
include it.

When data is in the database it can be easily backed up, shared,
replicated in real time, multi user collaboration is built-in. Groups
of people may enter contacts, organizations, notes, tasks, manage
projects together, and work on separate distant computers while
collaborating on same database information. Much programming becomes
redundant or easy peasy as database has so many features very easy to
implement.

Jean