Re: drupal.org MySQL database issues - Mailing list pgsql-advocacy

> Uhmmm no. Nobody is confused. You seem to think we are competing with
> MySQL. We are no more competing with MySQL than Oracle is.

This is the very sentiment that will keep PG exactly where it is today. I
hate to break it to you, but even Oracle was worried about MySQL and the
humongous penetration it has amassed. It doesn't matter where MySQL is
today. If it comes out with a version, say 6.5, which is as robust as other
big alternatives (and it is getting there), then their installed base would
suddenly have taken a step up. This is why market share as a notion occupies
the time of many strategists.

> MySQL is fine for relatively small, high velocity sites where data
> integrity and high write concurrency is not an issue.

Yes and no. I have seen very high concurrency implementations of MySQL.
Depends on what one's capabilities are. Use it with the right mix of InnoDB
and MVs and you'll do pretty ok. Continue to bumble about with MYISAM, as
the sad Drupal group is up to, and it'll end in bafflement.

> PostgreSQL is all about high velocity write concurrency and data
> integrity. I can not count how many people have switched *from* MySQL to
> PostgreSQL because they outgrow MySQL.

This includes me. So you're preaching to the choir. My simple point is that
PgSQL should be, and can be, easier to integrate with market leading
platforms such as Cpanel and Plesk.

> It is a commercial open source *product*, developed by a heavily funded
> private company (that is about to go public). That is just a tad different
> than PostgreSQL.

MySQL = Database, PostgreSQL = Database
That's where the comparison begins and ends. Apples to apples.

So what if PgSQL is different from MySQL, more robust? So what if it is open
source as opposed to a company (note that MySQL shot to fame long before it
became so very formalized)? So what if it is not making a dime, unlike
MySQL? Is that our logic to not become better and more easily integrable
with market leading platforms?

Many a novice has come to the [pgsql-general] list with questions about
working with cpanel, but the attitude I have seen from this community is:
yeah we're this grand bunch of folks sitting on a superior product, so we
don't give a fig. You want PgSQL to work with Cpanel? Go talk to Cpanel.
That's a marked difference from the mysql-general list.

And that does not compute for me. If that's the attitude, let's stop
cribbing about market share on this advocacy list. I feel I need to voice it
because the effort required to trump MySQL is very, very small. It just
takes cognizance of what needs to be done. It wouldn't kill us to have
PostgreSQL implemented by a larger chunk of the market.

To the point of training, no one trains MySQL folks (by and large). They
train themselves. PgSQL is not significantly more difficult than MySQL,
certainly not for the tasks that MySQL is most commonly used for. But MySQL
becomes the DB of choice because it works with cpanel and plesk, works
without pains, and works super fast. All things that PgSQL can also do.

My 20 yen.
Shashank