> > I have been using PostgreSQL to do everything I need, but people always
> > ask me ``why PostgreSQL''.
> >
> > I use to tell that PostgreSQL is powerfull, but when they ask me to
> > compare PostgreSQL with Oracle I get myself in troubles.
> >
> > I don't use Oracle!
> >
> > What does Oracle have that Postgresql doesn't have? Why does people
> > continue thinking that Oracle is better than PostgreSQL?
> >
> > How can I compare it??
I really hate to feed this troll, but since messages like this are
handy in the archives and having been down the Prim-rose^H^H^H^HOracle
path before, a few bits to think about:
> Some things Oracle has that PostgreSQL doesn't include:
>
> - Thoroughly tested schemes for database replication and
> "hot-swappable" fallover so that you can switch servers virtually
> instantly if a primary server 'dies.'
Have you actually seen this in practice and require anything less than
a team of full time DBAs hovering over the system at all times? ;)
> - Hordes of engineers that can be flown out at an hour's notice if you
> run into a severe problem.
Because you don't have the source and can't poke at things on your
own. Small convenience to have given you laid down $5M for your
database installation and $3M support/consulting. Someone on a plane
isn't worth $8M to me, sorry, those days came and went like W2K.
> - A multiplicity of highly configurable table attributes allowing you
> to spend all your time trying to decide how to configure any given
> table.
>
> Sometimes this configurability is helpful, as abstruse choices can
> sometimes be very worthwhile. Other times it may not be...
Sadly, there's truth to this. ::grin::
> - The ability to associate tables and indexes with "tablespaces"
> that allow the ability to spend all your time (well, the time left
> after fiddling with table attributes) figuring out how to optimally
> split application tables across filesystems and physical disks.
Others have seen me comment on this before.
> - All sorts of custom plug-ins that they have constructed for
> specialized applications.
Heh, by and large this hasn't been worth that much in my experience.
In two instances, we bought Oracle packages only to discover the were
terrible and rolled our own, absorbing the cost of the useless
packages.
> - The benefits of Oracle's additional applications (ERP and such) and
> application server software (Java and such).
Heh, and that, in my experience, has proven to be a liability and not
a feature. -sc
--
Sean Chittenden
