Re: Is my MySQL Gaining ? - Mailing list pgsql-general

Sorry to jump into this late but I just had to commment...

Quoting John Sidney-Woollett <johnsw@wardbrook.com>:

> That's a fair point.
>
> I used to get the same debate from customers when they wanted M$SqlServer,
> and I would always try to steer them towards Oracle (even if the starting
> point DB was simple). For me this was a no brainer (having used both
> products), but it sometimes took a lot of convincing even when Oracle
> provided no OS lock in, reliability, scalability, good 3rd party toolsets,
> and loads of consultants willing/able to support it.
>
> I'm not sure a comparison matrix is always helpful, because on paper
> products can look comparable, but can be wildly different in real use. We
> all drive cars, and they get you from A to B - in a paper feature
> comparison they can be made to look fairly identical, but their real life
> experience can be completely different.
>
> I guess my point was really to use an enterprise database like Oracle as a
> yard stick to judge Postgres against. Although the newer versions of
> Oracle are becoming bloatware, so you need to be careful!
>
> Compare MySQL to make a case for using Postgres over MySQL, sure. I
> understand why you'd want and need to do that.
>
> It just seems that some people are becoming fixated on the number of
> features implemented in either MySQL or Postgres instead of looking at the
> sum total of all the parts.
>
> John Sidney-Woollett
>


Extremely good point.  I actually stopped using paper comparisons because in the
end its simply my word and experience against someone elses.  If someone wants
to go feature by feature, I have my PG table of contents and some other
highlight points usually with me.  In my
experience, I've never had a problem deploying PG- maybe it is because I've been
lucky to not get into "contests" like what I've hearing or maybe it is because
most of the chatter I encounter is with Oracle, Sybase, Informix and the MS
product.  I do remember times when I have said things like, "I would not put my
company's data on MySQL or MS-SQL"
and things like, "my company's consulting app was developed on PostgreSQL and
has been in use for <number inserted here> years".

To the point- I don't make it solely about the product.  That is only part of
the successful formula for building an application.  You have to "sell" yourself
just as much as you have to sell the components of your solutions (if your
clients care).  Truth be told, I have turned down (i.e. walked away from or
simply lost) projects based on the fact that I would NOT architect a
solution with product which I did not feel comforatable deploying.
Business-wise that might be bad thing for cash flow but in the long run, I don't
think it is.  Products are not successful unless they are used and if you
politely refuse to use a particular product that, if nothing, else sends a strong
message.  The way I look at it is that I probably don't want to deal with a
company that
thinks that MySQL on windows is "good environment".

Another technique that corporate folks use is get testimonials.  Here is where I
think we can shine.  Imagine that you are in a meeting and someone doubts the
viability of PG for whatever reason.  I'd love to be able to say somethings like
this, "I will get you a list of developers and the applications they have
designed and YOU can pick who you want to get a reference from.  Talk to as many
people as you need to feel comforable".  That would go a long way because the
client could look for similar projects and because I am not picking the person
that is giving the testimonial, the reference is less biased.

Imagine that list containing hundreds of people from all over the world...

*grin*


I would certainly make myself available to any one in the community.  AFAIK,
there was a very short list on "success stories" on advocacy or techdocs but if
the community thinks something like this would be useful then perhaps we should
"market" those stories and their authors more formally.
>
> Randal L. Schwartz said:
> >>>>>> "John" == John Sidney-Woollett <johnsw@wardbrook.com> writes:
> >
> > John> Why is everyone so concerned about how Postgres is
> > John> product-placed compared to MySQL? Do you really care whether
> > John> users prefer MySQL or Postgres?
> >
> > I care, because as a consultant, I'm called in to solve other people's
> > problems when they most need help.  And I'd rather solve problems
> > in PostgreSQL than farking around with MySQL.
> >
> > I also am in an opportunity to be called in during the early phases of
> > project assessment and design.  There, I have an opportunity to talk
> > about choice of database amongst other things.  So, I need to be armed
> > with facts about choices, more than just anecdotes.
> >
> > So this is a useful thread, for those areas of my business.  Please
> > continue. :)
> >
> > --
> > Randal L. Schwartz - Stonehenge Consulting Services, Inc. - +1 503 777
> > 0095
> > <merlyn@stonehenge.com> <URL:http://www.stonehenge.com/merlyn/>
> > Perl/Unix/security consulting, Technical writing, Comedy, etc. etc.
> > See PerlTraining.Stonehenge.com for onsite and open-enrollment Perl
> > training!
> >
>
>
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--
Keith C. Perry, MS E.E.
Director of Networks & Applications
VCSN, Inc.
http://vcsn.com

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