Re: drupal.org MySQL database issues - Mailing list pgsql-advocacy

Shashank Tripathi wrote:
>> Uhmmm no. Nobody is confused. You seem to think we are competing with
>> MySQL. We are no more competing with MySQL than Oracle is.
>
> This is the very sentiment that will keep PG exactly where it is today.

You mean gaining market share, providing profit and being deployed in
global 5000 companies?

> I hate to break it to you, but even Oracle was worried about MySQL and
> the humongous penetration it has amassed. It doesn't matter where MySQL
> is today. If it comes out with a version, say 6.5, which is as robust as
> other big alternatives (and it is getting there),

Hardly. I believe you should stop reading the marketing material and
look at how MySQL actually does things.

>
>> PostgreSQL is all about high velocity write concurrency and data
>> integrity. I can not count how many people have switched *from* MySQL
>> to PostgreSQL because they outgrow MySQL.
>
> This includes me. So you're preaching to the choir. My simple point is
> that PgSQL should be, and can be, easier to integrate with market
> leading platforms such as Cpanel and Plesk.

Do you have something specific, that says we are more difficult than
MySQL is some way? Everytime I see this, it seems more about people not
willing to RTFM.

>
>> It is a commercial open source *product*, developed by a heavily
>> funded private company (that is about to go public). That is just a
>> tad different than PostgreSQL.
>
> MySQL = Database, PostgreSQL = Database
> That's where the comparison begins and ends. Apples to apples.

Then you are not making a valid comparison because then I can say we
might as well all close up shop and run SQLLite. Yes MySQL is a
database, yes PostgreSQL is a database... so what? So is MS Access.

>
> So what if PgSQL is different from MySQL, more robust? So what if it is
> open source as opposed to a company (note that MySQL shot to fame long
> before it became so very formalized)? So what if it is not making a
> dime, unlike MySQL? Is that our logic to not become better and more
> easily integrable with market leading platforms?

Again.. evidence? What is it about postgresql that makes it tough for
Cpanel or Plesk?

>
> Many a novice has come to the [pgsql-general] list with questions about
> working with cpanel, but the attitude I have seen from this community
> is: yeah we're this grand bunch of folks sitting on a superior product,
> so we don't give a fig. You want PgSQL to work with Cpanel? Go talk to
> Cpanel. That's a marked difference from the mysql-general list.

Well to be fair, Cpanel is crap, so I agree with the sentiment. That
being said in the vein of market share... Here is the difference that I
was trying to make about MySQL above.

The PostgreSQL "project" has (generally speaking) no concern over
marketshare. It is not in the goal list.

Command Prompt, EnterpriseDB, OTG... are who are concerned with Market
Share.

>
> And that does not compute for me. If that's the attitude, let's stop
> cribbing about market share on this advocacy list. I feel I need to
> voice it because the effort required to trump MySQL is very, very small.
> It just takes cognizance of what needs to be done. It wouldn't kill us
> to have PostgreSQL implemented by a larger chunk of the market.

Actually it might kill us because we are developing a superior product
and if we are tied up dealing with people running Cpanel we can hardly
afford time to do things like Synchronous replication and HOT.

> To the point of training, no one trains MySQL folks (by and large). They
> train themselves. PgSQL is not significantly more difficult than MySQL,

I call B.S. on this one. I *know* MySQL has a huge profit center in
training. Businesses by training. Lots of businesses.

No, not everyone, especially not your general hacker but it is generally
the general hacker that needs training the most.

Sincerely,

Joshua D. Drake


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