Re: Can I get some PostgreSQL developer feedback on these five general issues I have with PostgreSQL and its ecosystem? - Mailing list pgsql-general

I have to agree that pg_dump is largely a step child backup program.

It has consistently been found over the years to be lacking in a

number of areas. Unfortunately, working on pg_dump isn't sexy and it

is difficult to get volunteers or even paid resources to do such a

thing. The real solution for pg_dump is a complete refactor which

includes pg_dumpall and it is not a small undertaking. It should be

noted that it is also a less and less used program. On our team it

is normally used for only very specific needs (grabbing a schema)

and we use binary backups or logical replication to receive specific

data.

Huh? Are you saying that there is another, superior way to back up PostgreSQL databases other than pg_dump? I re-read the manual on it just now, but didn't see a single word about it being "legacy" or "deprecated" or even that there's any other way to do it. What do you mean?

It is not deprecated or legacy and it is still used by many. The issue is that people try to do 'partial' dumps without reading the docs on what those switches actually do and the potential conflicts therein. For large installations there it is often better to use some form of replication(binary and/or logical) to maintain a continuous backup. pg_dump can take a long time on very big databases, so it may not keep up.

This is really using the wrong tool for the job type of issue. PG

was never designed for such a scenario.

I hate the "wrong tool for the job" argument. It assumes that everyone has infinite time, energy and brain capacity to learn endless redundant tools just to "use the right tool for the job" rather than "use what you actually know". I know PG. I don't know SQLite. They are very different. So obviously, I want to use PG.

This comes down to what your definition of embedded is? A matter of determining whether we are talking apples or oranges.

While I understand what you mean, and even agree in theory, in practice, this always results in crappy third-party solutions which I don't want to deal with. PostGIS, for example, forces me to use "postgis" for its schema instead of "PostGIS" just because they arrogantly didn't construct their internal queries properly. "Little" things like that.

Huh? A schema is just a name space, why does it matter how the extension chooses to define it? I mean you could have number of permutations of postgis.

I know that writing documentation isn't fun, but it's necessary. Also, my overall point was to not even have to deal with the specifics, but just be able to tell PG with a single config option that it's allowed to "use most of the machine's resources".

That would entail building an AI into the code that would deal with all the possible OS(versions), Postgres(versions), hardware permutations.

Does your server runs to your satisfaction with the default settings?