Re: Re: Re: PostgreSQL vs Oracle vs DB2 vs MySQL - Which should I use? - Mailing list pgsql-general

> It is a problem. A human being just can't answer ten trillion emails a day
> and do anything else productive.
>
> I use PHP a lot (with PostgreSQL ) and when I first got into PHP I was on
> the PHP mailing lists, they were high volume even a few years ago so I
> couldn't imagine what they are now..
>
> The good thing about PostgreSQL is that you don't have many people
> installing it to just play around. I foung that probably %80 of the
> questions around the PHP mailing lists were from people that didn't have a
> clue how to get started and wanted to install and code PHP because they
> heard it was neat. I have nothing against that at all, it's a good thing
> (sort of ), I just don't think we see that kind of attitude with PostgreSQL


We will get those folks someday.  Right now, they are down in
MySQL-land, but they could come soon.  In the old days, Linux served
that purpose, and BSD sat more in the experienced camp.

The big question is whether we can provide resources for those new
people so they can get started without flooding the mail lists.  I
actually find that IRC is a good avenue for them because they can
interact with people and get clarifications that are hard to do in
email.  And, our IRC channel is getting huge.  We have 23 people on the
IRC channel right now, and one sarcasm-bot who I am growing fond of.  :-)



> (or any RDBMS really)..  Generally I see people using MySQL first (why, I
> don't know) and then moving to PostgreSQL for it's much more rich feature
> set. In the process there people tend to learn the little stuff with MySQL
> like basic SQL syntax and at least a general understanding of what's going
> on. In addition to all that the people that are using PostgreSQL (or and
> RDBMS) are generally using it for a specific purpose (writing an application
> to use it, for instance) and programmers tend to be able to figure a lot out
> for themselves.. I think that all the above contributes to the fact that
> where  there is a substantial amount, it's not to 100+ a day yet :-)
>
> Anyway.. I've been on the list for almost two years now and I have seen an
> increase in traffic for sure but I haven't seen a decrease in support.
> Support always has and continues to be excellent. I don't think it will
> become much of a problem in the near future but only time will tell!

I think there is no decrease because people are getting answers
off-list, and saving the good ones for us.  In fact, I think the most
frequently asked questions are about bugs in previous releases that we
already have fixed in current, and we need to give them workarounds.

--
  Bruce Momjian                        |  http://candle.pha.pa.us
  pgman@candle.pha.pa.us               |  (610) 853-3000
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