Re: [GENERAL] Re: [HACKERS] [Fwd: SGVLLUG Oracle and Informix on Linux] - Mailing list pgsql-general

My comments are driven by perceptions. I admit they're uninformed. The
topic is advertising PostgreSQL, so my perceptions are relevant. Educate
me and the masses about your product. I'm hear because I think PostgreSQL
is a useful tool.

> > I say this with these (mostly uninformed) assumptions in mind. Oracle's
> > ODBC driver is probably more complete. Oracle is better documented. Oracle
> > has a lot of related tools. Oracle offers training.
>
> What does Oracle's ODBC driver offer that ours currently doesn't?

I just tried it for the first time last week. It failed to perform a
simple query. I need to double check my work yet. The Oracle ODBC driver
has _probably_ been around for a while and has _probably_ been better
tested perhaps simply by raw numbers of users.

> Have you looked at recent documentation? It has changed
> dramatically over the past couple of months...

I like to think I check your docs regularly, but I'm sure there's stuff I
miss. From my experience documentation is examples, HOWTO's, web sites,
and man pages which are all good approaches. The trouble is there is no
place which coordinates this. Searches tend to be a brute force effort for
me because I do not yet understand how the material is organized. I'm sure
if you've been around PostgreSQL for a couple of years you know the sorts
of things to expect to find in the man pages. To me, I never would have
thought to search the man pages for GRANT and REVOKE, or any SQL for that
matter.

In fact, documentation is probably the only place I can help your
development effort at this time since I cannot see the big picture. Hence,
the journal I'm keeping could be turned into a tutorial, which I suppose
it actually my goal.

> What do you mean by "related tools"?

Good question. What is Oracle Power Objects? What is Oracle/2000? I see
these things advertised. What do they do, and is an equivalent available
for PostgreSQL assuming it is a relavent product?

> Training in...administration?  We run it at my "real job", and
> Oracle *has* to offer training for administration...its a
> nightmare.

Administration, yes.

> > >     features
> >
> > As many posts I see to this list are "how do I do this" - "not
> > implemented, wait for a later version", I'm not sure why you would make
> > this claim. Again, I'm not a person who spends a great deal of time on
> > databases and I do consider myself uninformed.
>
> features != ANSI SQL compliance, right?

I suppose ANSI SQL is the heart of it.

> Again, what are we missing that Oracle currently has...?

If you offer the same features, then list those features in a comparison
on your web site. Take a "See... we do everything Oracle does."

> > >     support
> >
> > The mailing lists are nice. I appreciate them very much. There's probably
> > a mailing list for Oracle. What more is there for support?
>
>     My experience with paid support vs mailings lists tends to have me
> much preferring mailing lists.  At least on a mailing list, you have a
> good chance of finding someone that has already hit that same problem.

That's my experience too. Notice I didn't mention paid support. My point
here is if there's a list for Oracle, then you are the same in this
category.


Bruce Tong                 |  Got me an office; I'm there late at night.
Systems Programmer         |  Just send me e-mail, maybe I'll write.
Electronic Vision / FITNE  |
zztong@laxmi.ev.net        |  -- Joe Walsh for the 21st Century