Re: Press Release, Final Draft? - Mailing list pgsql-advocacy

Josh Berkus wrote:

I like where this is going, but of course I have a couple of comments.

> PARAGRAPH ONE:
> My Version:
> NY, NY: October XX, 2004 - The PostgreSQL Global Development group

Why "NY, NY"?

> has released version 8.0 of the PostgreSQL object-relational database
> management system, maintaining its position as the most advanced open
> source database in the world. This release includes many features
> previously only available in the most expensive proprietary database
> software, and is expected to dramatically increase the adoption of
> PostgreSQL by both developers and software vendors.

There tends to be a lot of "drama" in the press release drafts.  Drama
is about conflict and suspense, which we really don't want.  A term
like "significantly" might be better.

> PARAGRAPH TWO:
> My version:
> In addition to reaching a new milestone in scalability, PostgreSQL

I concur with others that there is no milestone in scalability.

> Windows:
> My Version, Same as Draft Seven:
> Native Windows Support:  PostgreSQL now works natively with Windows
> systems and does not need an emulation layer.  This provides

... *on* Windows *operating* systems ...

> dramatically improved performance over previous versions, and offers
> a compelling alternative to proprietary database software for
> independent software vendors, corporate users, and individual Windows
> developers.

Again, there is no drama here.

> Savepoints:  This SQL-standard feature allows specific parts of a
> database transaction to be rolled back without aborting the entire
> operation. This benefits business application developers who require

... entire transaction.

> Point in Time Recovery: Point in Time Recovery provides a full
> recovery model that allows data recovery from bare-metal to the point
> of failure or to a specific point in time, based around automatically
> archived transaction logs.

Somehow I feel that this wording is confusing; I wouldn't know what PITR
really does.  How does it tie in with existing features and how does it
respond to users' needs.  Obviously, PostgreSQL had some kind of data
recovery before, but that makes it look like now it really has it or
something.

> Tablespaces:  crucial to the administrators of multi-gigabyte data
> warehousing systems, tablespaces allow the placement of large tables
> and indexes on their own individual disks or arrays, improving query
> performance.

Capital C

> Improved Memory and I/O:  Disk and memory usage have been improved
> through an Adaptive Replacement Cache, the Background Writer, and
> Lazy Vacuum.   This will result in more predictable loads and
> substantially more even performance during peak usage times.

It's not "an" Adaptive Replacement Cache, it's "the" Adaptive
Replacement Cache algorithm.  How about this change:  "Disk and memory
usage have been optimized through the use of the Adaptive Replacement
Cache algorithm, the new background writer, and the new lazy vacuum
feature."

> My Version:
> In addition to the many features bundled with the release, PostgreSQL
> has been enhanced by accelerated development of add-ons and optional
> components over the last year.    The Slony-I replication tool and
> the pgPool connection pooling/brokering utility are both already
> being used for high-availability server pools.   Several stored

There is no capital P in pgpool.

> procedure languages have been added or greatly expanded, including
> PL/Java, PL/PHP and PL/Perl, and the Npgsql and PGsqlClient .NET data
> providers have been enhanced to support our many new Windows users.

> Of course, there are many more new features.   For a full list, see
> our Press Page <link>

"press page"

> With more than 18 years of development by hundreds of the world's
> most generous and brilliant minds from the open source community,

I think this really goes too far with the self-glorification.

> PostgreSQL is the world's most advanced open source database. With
> its long time support of an enterprise level feature set including
> transactions, stored procedures, triggers, and subqueries, PostgreSQL
> is being used by many of today's most demanding businesses and
> government agencies. PostgreSQL is available under a BSD License for
> both commercial and non-commercial use.

PostgreSQL is available under a BSD-style license, which imposes no
restrictions on commercial or noncommercial redistribution and use.

--
Peter Eisentraut
http://developer.postgresql.org/~petere/