2007-10-31_11:29:47-0400 Greg Smith <gsmith@gregsmith.com>:
> However, a larger search on Dice suggests similar percentages. Dice
> shows 249 jobs that mention PostgreSQL, while 2245 mention MySQL and
> 20617 mention Oracle. If you cut those numbers up, again PostgreSQL
> jobs do seem to be around 1% of the total DB hiring market.
I don't have numbers to back this up, but my suspicion is that these
numbers correlate with the numbers of applications that use each
respective database as their primary backend platform. For example, how
many installed enterprise quality ERP systems use Oracle vs. MySQL
vs. PostgreSQL? Ditto for CMS apps, LMS apps, you name it.
That said, I really don't see how these numbers can hold over the long
term. If I am an ERP vendor, I can obtain a huge competitive advantage
by commoditizing my infrastructure requirements. Now, if you want to
build on solid foundation, which commodity database do you choose? Is
anybody ready to run a bank on MySQL? This is bet your business stuff.
Again, I don't have any data, but my perception is that PostgreSQL is
just beginning to be considered a viable contender for bet the farm
systems like that. And it's only getting better.
There's a lot of inertia to overcome, though. First, app vendors have
to rewrite their apps. Any sane vendor must realize it's in their
interest to do so (before their competition does), but that takes time.
Then their clients have to buy the vision and replace existing working
systems with something different. And retrain staff.
Whis is all to say I don't see this market turning on a dime, but I do
think the momentum is in PostgreSQL's favor. It's a really big slow
heavy mass that's starting to move in the right direction - and there's
no stopping it.
--
Ron Peterson
https://www.yellowbank.com/
