Published 2025-04-21
tag(s): #failures #yell-at-cloud
Today I needed to connect to Sybase, from Windows, using ODBC.
Turns out to download the ODBC drivers for Sybase, you need to download an SDK from SAP's
website.
To download something from SAP's website, you need to use a "business email address" to create
an account.
After I created the account, the download failed with an error. I wish I was making this up...
In 2025, with so many options for...everything, you would think companies would make using
their product as easy as possible.
But, here's the catch: you are using Sybase because someone else in your company already made
the decision for you, or because a third party forced it on you (my case now is the
latter). So you are not a "potential client", by the time you head to the download page, they
know chances are you are a prisoner[1].
I have a vague recollection of Oracle also forcing registration to download drivers, although last time I downloaded the client files it didn't ask for anything. So I guess now SAP is even worse than Oracle, somehow.
This crap is "how to get developers to hate your products" 101. Forcing you to register is
like punishing you for showing any interest in their tools.
I guess this produces a reinforcing cycle: no one with technical inclinations will choose your
stuff, so you cater more to the audience that can be sold on a product via PPT. Forcing extra
steps to work on your garbage makes people that actually want/need to use it hate you...but
won't impact sales, so you keep neglecting your developer experience in favor of nicer
PowerPoints.
I wish I knew enough about Sybase to write my own ODBC driver, out of spite.
It seems my best alternative is FreeTDS, which works on Windows too. But if that doesn't work,
I would totally put a link right here to the SDK download (probably violating a few
agreements in the process).[2]