Re: 12 Silver Bullets - Mailing list pgsql-advocacy

On Tue, 2007-08-14 at 17:35 -0400, Bob Zurek wrote:
> Anyone ever put together something I call a Silver Bullet list that
> showcases the top 12 features in PostgreSQL that could kill MySQL?
>
> Care to contribute? Any advice?

Hi Bob,

For me, PostgreSQL and MySQL have different use cases.

- MySQL's feature set corresponds to a large proportion of web apps:
mostly read-only, simple SQL, design implemented by developers, so no
DBA required.

- PostgreSQL's feature set works for "difficult/complex" web apps.

Each does its job well in that space and is in no danger of forcing the
other one from its niche. MySQL doesn't seem like it will ever say that,
but thats fine because it results in a steady stream of ex-MySQL users
happy to testify to its abilities and inabilities.

PostgreSQL to MySQL is like SQLServer is to Access. Microsoft publish
warnings about data loss with Access, but there's still more people
running it in production than Oracle or SQLServer.

The idea that one size fits all isn't true, so in my opinion the
category of "Open Source Databases" is about as useful a distinction for
decision-makers as "West Coast Databases" would be. It's not a single
market segment that we all compete in, there are multiple market
segments/use cases.

BTW, MySQL isn't even "The World's Most Popular Open Source Database",
if we judge that on installed systems: BerkeleyDB is.

MySQL markets to lots of people, in my opinion mostly younger
developers, but those people are not the people that run large
businesses or manage large production databases. Developers tend to have
much less say in database decisions when the database contains high
visibility, high value data. That's when architects and DBAs get
involved and its typically a no-contest in favour of PostgreSQL, pick
any 12 features.

The new Async Commit feature in PostgreSQL 8.3 might be considered to be
a "MySQL Killer", since it offers relaxed durability guarantees in
return for increased performance, an option which we know that many
MySQL users happily choose (until it crashes). The Async Commit feature
allows synchronous and asynchronous commits to co-exist, which is not
possible with MySQL or Solid. EDB sponsored this feature, allowing
PostgreSQL to address a wider range of sensing/monitoring applications
such as RFID tag tracking or number plate recognition/traffic systems,
rather than simply attacking MySQL.
http://developer.postgresql.org/pgdocs/postgres/wal-async-commit.html

--
  Simon Riggs
  EnterpriseDB  http://www.enterprisedb.com