Logging Software Requirements

 Among all of the best known QSO logging programs there is one major difference.

(Among the most popular) -- One has built-in remote database capabilities -- (eg., RDBMS) -- that's Log4OMv2   The downside to Log4OM is that the application itself is extremely slow and sluggish because of the way they wrote their interprocess communication.   When done correctly, it works fine.  When done incorrectly it is a dog and Log4OMv2 is a dog.  But, it has the MySQL angle, so there's that.

The other applications out there.. DX4Win, DXK, N1MM, etc.. all are Super Deluxe Fine Software -- except for one thing -- no remote database support.  This is a big deal because storing the log on the same machine as the computer where the Application Runs is not necessarily the best idea -- for all situations.  Given the fact that The Log is actually the Most Important thing that is updated, why on earth it has to be ON the same machine as the Application escapes me.   

Anyway -- I'm at an impasse.   I need to come up with something different.

Requirements:

• Not exclusively web based. I may not be on the net when I log.
• Cross platform (same application runs on Windows, Linux, MacOS)
• The software itself is remote controllable. (Not in the sense that the visual representation of the Application can be networked, as in X11 but the software has API surface to let it be remote controlled by third party software tools (even if on different platforms))
• Has the Option to journal the log locally AND communicate with a mixture of different RDBMS (Maria, MySQL, Oracle, Sybase, you name it..)
• Has the option to telemeter QSO data over UDP and TCP (not many in the ham world understand the difference -- so that needs to be explained later).
• Integrates with the LoTW system.
• Calculates Awards, and such.
• Let's me flip into "Contest Mode" and overlay any subsequent QSO into the general log (OR) lets me keep them seperate.   Through config.
• I'm on the fence if the Software really should actually control the Radio -- by control I mean the Software can in any form cause "PTT" to occur. (Keying, SSB, FT-X whatever).. that I am not so sure yet is a requirement.  For contesting, it might be, but for other things, I'm not sure yet.
• Integration with Spot networks -- but with a twist -- I'd like it also to integrate with well known modern 'chat' systems like Discord, Signal, etc.. so that virtual "private" social networks can be integrated.   A tunneled version of a spotting network.
• And, finally, plugin architecture.  The software will need to evolve and advance with plugins that are well formed and address the architecture point of view that the original authors are NOT always the best source of the behavior of the software.   There would be a plugin architecture so that perhaps (for example) the Renderer of the Log is not baked into the Application, but can be extended via a plugin to some other third party system that may render the Log better than this hypothetical application.
• Finally (sorry, the final finally) -- it's Open Source.  Completely Absolutely Open Source.   No secret code, no fees, no costs, no ads.  Bugs found, bugs fixed and the community of developers work them out.   No more proprietary code.    See also The Cathedral and the Bazaar (Eric Raymond).   It is the way.
• That's all I can think of at the moment.

I'm going to explore this and I may regret it, but I am going to push this a bit further than I had before.