Fixed #11356 -- Added links to the growing collection of 3rd party database backends that are available. Thank to Nathan Auch for the draft text.

git-svn-id: http://code.djangoproject.com/svn/django/trunk@11093 bcc190cf-cafb-0310-a4f2-bffc1f526a37

docs/ref/databases.txt

@@ -251,7 +251,7 @@ Here's a sample configuration which uses a MySQL option file::
     DATABASE_OPTIONS = {
         'read_default_file': '/path/to/my.cnf',
     }
-    
+
     # my.cnf
     [client]
     database = DATABASE_NAME
@@ -445,10 +445,10 @@ If you're getting this error, you can solve it by:
     * Switching to another database backend. At a certain point SQLite becomes
       too "lite" for real-world applications, and these sorts of concurrency
       errors indicate you've reached that point.
-      
-    * Rewriting your code to reduce concurrency and ensure that database 
+
+    * Rewriting your code to reduce concurrency and ensure that database
       transactions are short-lived.
-      
+
     * Increase the default timeout value by setting the ``timeout`` database
       option option::
 
@@ -457,7 +457,7 @@ If you're getting this error, you can solve it by:
              "timeout": 20,
               # ...
           }
-      
+
       This will simply make SQLite wait a bit longer before throwing "database
       is locked" errors; it won't really do anything to solve them.
 
@@ -601,3 +601,28 @@ some limitations on the usage of such LOB columns in general:
     Oracle. A workaround to this is to keep ``TextField`` columns out of any
     models that you foresee performing ``distinct()`` queries on, and to
     include the ``TextField`` in a related model instead.
+
+.. _third-party-notes:
+
+Using a 3rd-party database backend
+==================================
+
+In addition to the officially supported databases, there are backends provided
+by 3rd parties that allow you to use other databases with Django:
+
+* `Sybase SQL Anywhere`_
+* `IBM DB2`_
+* `Microsoft SQL Server 2005`_
+* Firebird_
+* ODBC_
+
+The Django versions and ORM features supported by these unofficial backends
+vary considerably. Queries regarding the specific capabilities of these
+unofficial backends, along with any support queries, should be directed to
+the support channels provided by each 3rd party project.
+
+.. _Sybase SQL Anywhere: http://code.google.com/p/sqlany-django/
+.. _IBM DB2: http://code.google.com/p/ibm-db/
+.. _Microsoft SQL Server 2005: http://code.google.com/p/django-mssql/
+.. _Firebird: http://code.google.com/p/django-firebird/
+.. _ODBC: http://code.google.com/p/django-pyodbc/

docs/topics/install.txt

@@ -61,13 +61,27 @@ for each platform.
 Get your database running
 =========================
 
-If you plan to use Django's database API functionality, you'll need to
-make sure a database server is running. Django works with PostgreSQL_,
-MySQL_, Oracle_ and SQLite_ (although SQLite doesn't require a separate server
-to be running).
+If you plan to use Django's database API functionality, you'll need to make
+sure a database server is running. Django supports many different database
+servers and is officially supported with PostgreSQL_, MySQL_, Oracle_ and
+SQLite_ (although SQLite doesn't require a separate server to be running).
 
-Additionally, you'll need to make sure your Python database bindings are
-installed.
+In addition to the officially supported databases, there are backends provided
+by 3rd parties that allow you to use other databases with Django:
+
+* `Sybase SQL Anywhere`_
+* `IBM DB2`_
+* `Microsoft SQL Server 2005`_
+* Firebird_
+* ODBC_
+
+The Django versions and ORM features supported by these unofficial backends
+vary considerably. Queries regarding the specific capabilities of these
+unofficial backends, along with any support queries, should be directed to the
+support channels provided by each 3rd party project.
+
+In addition to a database backend, you'll need to make sure your Python
+database bindings are installed.
 
 * If you're using PostgreSQL, you'll need the psycopg_ package. Django supports
   both version 1 and 2. (When you configure Django's database layer, specify
@@ -89,6 +103,9 @@ installed.
   :ref:`Oracle backend <oracle-notes>` for important information
   regarding supported versions of both Oracle and ``cx_Oracle``.
 
+* If you're using an unofficial 3rd party backend, please consult the
+  documentation provided for any additional requirements.
+
 If you plan to use Django's ``manage.py syncdb`` command to
 automatically create database tables for your models, you'll need to
 ensure that Django has permission to create and alter tables in the
@@ -111,7 +128,11 @@ Django will need permission to create a test database.
 .. _pysqlite: http://pysqlite.org/
 .. _cx_Oracle: http://cx-oracle.sourceforge.net/
 .. _Oracle: http://www.oracle.com/
-
+.. _Sybase SQL Anywhere: http://code.google.com/p/sqlany-django/
+.. _IBM DB2: http://code.google.com/p/ibm-db/
+.. _Microsoft SQL Server 2005: http://code.google.com/p/django-mssql/
+.. _Firebird: http://code.google.com/p/django-firebird/
+.. _ODBC: http://code.google.com/p/django-pyodbc/
 .. _removing-old-versions-of-django:
 
 Remove any old versions of Django