Personally I think that the docs are great (especially so with 7.4). Of
course they are aimed at experienced admins, so it is easier to find things
if you have a basic understanding of the RDBMS to start with. Of course
things can always be improved, but I am opposed to adding cruft to the core
documentation. Let's keep these things friendly towards experienced users
so that we can WORK efficiently.
However, Ericson does have a point, that the docs are NOT adequate if you
are new to PostgreSQL and have only used MySQL or MS Access. There have
been many ideas on how to resolve this issue, but I say that it should be
resolved outside the core docs. The example of Python has been used, with
an in-depth tutorial separate from the main docs. That way, an experienced
user can discard the tutorial.
I have argued elsewhere that a separate curriculum should be maintained, but
I also understand that that will not happen overnight. My suggestion at the
moment is to break the tutorial off so that it is not part of the main docs
(I am not satisfied that it is large enough to really fill its purpose) and
maintain it separately. I would then look at how to improve the tutorial.
Hint out there to Ericson and others. The Reference Manual section of SQL
commands is the part of the manual I use most. Procedural language sections
also are used much around here :-)
Best Wishes,
Chris Travers
