[rakoo]

Map/Reduce was a hype of the days it was created, but you're perfectly fine not using it. CouchDB has been integrating MongoDB-style queries for a few releases now, and this very release introduces a full-text search engine. Map/Reduce is still there because it just works.

The real shame is that Map/Reduce is simply a toy, easy-to-add bonus when looking at the data structure, but that's not what CouchDB is or ever was about. The one reason it was created is replication and simplistic conflict handling, and it does it perfectly.

The reason CouchDB never took off is that it targets offline-first, something you'll see associated with peer-to-peer systems, but does that only for servers: you're supposed to install that thing through packages, configure a text file, run it with your preferred daemon manager, ... If CouchDB had a simple desktop version you could start in one click and forget about, it would have been way more interesting. Alas.

[steve_taylor]

There are client implementations, such as PouchDB for the browser and Couchbase Lite (community edition) for mobile platforms.

[janl]

The Mac version is probably closest to what you mean, but yeah, an “Access/FileMaker“ type of app, most easily realised by bundling CouchDB and Electron probably, would go a long way. If anyone needs a project ;)