Thread: Bad book review
I am not sure how many people have looked at my book on Amazon.com, but I have received my first negative book review: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0201703319/o/qid%3D976592762/sr%3D8-1/ref%3Daps%5Fsr%5Fb%5F1%5F3/104-0116316-8891907 I guess everyone isn't going to like my book. :-) -- Bruce Momjian | http://candle.pha.pa.us pgman@candle.pha.pa.us | (610) 853-3000 + If your life is a hard drive, | 830 Blythe Avenue + Christ can be your backup. | Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania 19026
I have it and have found it very useful. Matt Friedman Spry New Media ----- Original Message ----- From: "Bruce Momjian" <pgman@candle.pha.pa.us> To: "PostgreSQL-general" <pgsql-general@postgresql.org> Sent: Tuesday, February 13, 2001 11:06 PM Subject: Bad book review > I am not sure how many people have looked at my book on Amazon.com, but > I have received my first negative book review: > > http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0201703319/o/qid%3D976592762/sr%3D8-1 /ref%3Daps%5Fsr%5Fb%5F1%5F3/104-0116316-8891907 > > I guess everyone isn't going to like my book. :-) > > -- > Bruce Momjian | http://candle.pha.pa.us > pgman@candle.pha.pa.us | (610) 853-3000 > + If your life is a hard drive, | 830 Blythe Avenue > + Christ can be your backup. | Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania 19026 > >
Matt Friedman wrote: > > I have it and have found it very useful. I think charachter about Functions and Triggers too small. Server-side functions are very impotant for check input information and integrity of database. Best regards, Mik
Bruce Momjian wrote: > I am not sure how many people have looked at my book on Amazon.com, but > I have received my first negative book review: > > http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0201703319/o/qid%3D976592762/sr%3D8-1/ref%3Daps%5Fsr%5Fb%5F1%5F3/104-0116316-8891907 > > I guess everyone isn't going to like my book. :-) Give yourself an amusement and lookup this: http://www.petdance.com/andy/resume/ After 15 years of *professional* ColdFusion and Perl development, 7 years of OO-Perl (interfacing MySQL) plus a couple of other high-level skills, he got the enlightment and learns VB 6. On Word: If your only tool is MSWord, everything looks like a .doc :-) Jan -- #======================================================================# # It's easier to get forgiveness for being wrong than for being right. # # Let's break this rule - forgive me. # #================================================== JanWieck@Yahoo.com # _________________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Get your free @yahoo.com address at http://mail.yahoo.com
I got the book when it was first made availiable, and its been a damn good reference, though I do admit it doesn't go into using Large Objects well enough. as for installation, the INSTALL file pretty much explains what needs to be done. All in all its one of my most frequently used references. =) Mike ----- Original Message ----- From: "Bruce Momjian" <pgman@candle.pha.pa.us> To: "PostgreSQL-general" <pgsql-general@postgresql.org> Sent: Tuesday, February 13, 2001 11:06 PM Subject: Bad book review > I am not sure how many people have looked at my book on Amazon.com, but > I have received my first negative book review: > > http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0201703319/o/qid%3D976592762/sr%3D8-1 /ref%3Daps%5Fsr%5Fb%5F1%5F3/104-0116316-8891907 > > I guess everyone isn't going to like my book. :-) > > -- > Bruce Momjian | http://candle.pha.pa.us > pgman@candle.pha.pa.us | (610) 853-3000 > + If your life is a hard drive, | 830 Blythe Avenue > + Christ can be your backup. | Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania 19026 >
the book is called "Introduction and Concepts" so I don't think it's misrepresenting itself as a detailed explaination of everything. I really needed a good getting started type of book and it's done the trick so far. Combined with the docs, I've learned a great amount. But yes, find me a book with excellent examples of detailed functions and triggers plus other advanced topics and I'd buy that too. Matt Friedman ----- Original Message ----- From: "Mikhail V. Majorov" <mik@ttn.ru> To: "Matt Friedman" <matt@sprynewmedia.com> Cc: "Bruce Momjian" <pgman@candle.pha.pa.us>; "PgSql General List" <pgsql-general@postgresql.org> Sent: Wednesday, February 14, 2001 12:16 AM Subject: Re: [GENERAL] Re: Bad book review > Matt Friedman wrote: > > > > I have it and have found it very useful. > > I think charachter about Functions and Triggers too small. > Server-side functions are very impotant for check input information and > integrity of database. > > Best regards, > Mik > >
[ Charset KOI8-R unsupported, converting... ] > Matt Friedman wrote: > > > > I have it and have found it very useful. > > I think charachter about Functions and Triggers too small. > Server-side functions are very impotant for check input information and > integrity of database. Yes, because the book is "Introduction and Concepts" I had to decide how much detail people _should_ know, and how much is too much for someone starting out with PostgreSQL. Beginning people are very bad at understanding what is important, and what can wait until they have been using it for a while. -- Bruce Momjian | http://candle.pha.pa.us pgman@candle.pha.pa.us | (610) 853-3000 + If your life is a hard drive, | 830 Blythe Avenue + Christ can be your backup. | Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania 19026
It's a useful reference, but I wish it included the formatting codes for to_char() and the like. The equivalent section in the "MySQL & mSQL" book by Yarger et. al does include such codes and I find that very helpful. [nudge, nudge] -- Fred Yankowski fred@OntoSys.com tel: +1.630.879.1312 Principal Consultant www.OntoSys.com fax: +1.630.879.1370 OntoSys, Inc 38W242 Deerpath Rd, Batavia, IL 60510, USA
> It's a useful reference, but I wish it included the formatting codes > for to_char() and the like. The equivalent section in the "MySQL & > mSQL" book by Yarger et. al does include such codes and I find that > very helpful. [nudge, nudge] Yes, that would be nice. Are those in the main docs? If not? [nudge, nudge] (I think I see them in there, but I am not sure.) -- Bruce Momjian | http://candle.pha.pa.us pgman@candle.pha.pa.us | (610) 853-3000 + If your life is a hard drive, | 830 Blythe Avenue + Christ can be your backup. | Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania 19026
http://www.postgresql.org/devel-corner/docs/postgres/functions-formatting.htm It's one of my bookmarks since it's a bit tricky to find from the table of contents. On Wed, Feb 14, 2001 at 10:12:06AM -0500, Bruce Momjian wrote: > > It's a useful reference, but I wish it included the formatting codes > > for to_char() and the like. The equivalent section in the "MySQL & > > mSQL" book by Yarger et. al does include such codes and I find that > > very helpful. [nudge, nudge] > > Yes, that would be nice. Are those in the main docs? If not? [nudge, > nudge] (I think I see them in there, but I am not sure.) -- Fred Yankowski fred@OntoSys.com tel: +1.630.879.1312 Principal Consultant www.OntoSys.com fax: +1.630.879.1370 OntoSys, Inc 38W242 Deerpath Rd, Batavia, IL 60510, USA
Actually, I wouldn't worry to much about it. It's true there might be some things that could be improved (there always is),but I'm not sure the guy who wrote it is even sure of what he read (if he did it fully, which I doubt, since he couldn't find anywhere about OID's, and I think the rest of us who have really read and used the book know where it is) I agree it's one of the most used books for Postgres. I know I do. :-) Cheers. Bruce Momjian wrote: > I am not sure how many people have looked at my book on Amazon.com, but > I have received my first negative book review: > > http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0201703319/o/qid%3D976592762/sr%3D8-1/ref%3Daps%5Fsr%5Fb%5F1%5F3/104-0116316-8891907 > > I guess everyone isn't going to like my book. :-) > > -- > Bruce Momjian | http://candle.pha.pa.us > pgman@candle.pha.pa.us | (610) 853-3000 > + If your life is a hard drive, | 830 Blythe Avenue > + Christ can be your backup. | Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania 19026
In general the main point I would take serious is about the lack of info on the install and setup. If the book is geared to non-admins that are going to be using it, but someone else is setting up, then there is not much need for it. But if it is geared to people that will set it up and use it, then the person is going to be put out. I agree, online docs are very useful and have all the info BUT the people that are buying the hard copies want a reference that is not online dependant. I have multitudes of books ranging from BIND to Postgres to VB to Apache. All the info in them can be found online, but I just hate reading on the comp monitor if I can avoid it. I buy the books for the convienece factor (plus examples). I will agree though. Buying a book and being told to look up a topic online does seem to tell you to piss off. It is a bit different if it goes into the topic enough to get you started and then says for advance details, here is further reading. Actually, I forgot which book I have that does it, but at the end of each chapter it has a list of places for further reading on the topics in the chapter. The chapter covers most of the info, but it points you to a place to check to see if any details were left out. In summation, I think the book is good. The book is basically "using SQL on Postgresql". Nothing wrong with that. Several introductory Oracle books are the same way. What the guy writing the commentary was looking for was a "System Admin/Programmer Guide to Postgresql". There ya go. Make a boxed set. Book 1: Postgresql and SQL Book 2: System Admin's guide Book 3: Programmer's guide. They would all have overlapping info, but each would go into deep detail of its appropriate areas. Arguably the programmer's guide would be the hardest nd would involve several authors due to multiple platform and language issues. Adam Lang Systems Engineer Rutgers Casualty Insurance Company http://www.rutgersinsurance.com ----- Original Message ----- From: "Matt Friedman" <matt@sprynewmedia.com> To: "PgSql General List" <pgsql-general@postgresql.org> Sent: Wednesday, February 14, 2001 3:24 AM Subject: Re: [GENERAL] Re: Bad book review > the book is called "Introduction and Concepts" so I don't think it's > misrepresenting itself as a detailed explaination of everything. I really > needed a good getting started type of book and it's done the trick so far. > > Combined with the docs, I've learned a great amount. > > But yes, find me a book with excellent examples of detailed functions and > triggers plus other advanced topics and I'd buy that too. > > Matt Friedman
On Wed, 14 Feb 2001, Bruce Momjian wrote: > I am not sure how many people have looked at my book on Amazon.com, but > I have received my first negative book review: > > http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0201703319/o/qid%3D976592762/sr%3D8-1/ref%3Daps%5Fsr%5Fb%5F1%5F3/104-0116316-8891907 > > I guess everyone isn't going to like my book. :-) Did you read any of his other reviews? He doesn't strike me as a happy person. Someone musta moved his cheese. Vince. -- ========================================================================== Vince Vielhaber -- KA8CSH email: vev@michvhf.com http://www.pop4.net 128K ISDN from $22.00/mo - 56K Dialup from $16.00/mo at Pop4 Networking Online Campground Directory http://www.camping-usa.com Online Giftshop Superstore http://www.cloudninegifts.com ==========================================================================
Hi all!
I'd like to set up a DNS-less connection from ASP to a PostgreSQL-server. What I'm looking for is a connectionstring looking something like this:
db.Open("driver=PostgreSQL};host=www.host.com:666;database=name;UID=me;Password=;pass")
But the one above (obviously, since I'm writing this mail) doesn't work. Please if anyone know how to solve this, drop a line.
Thanks in advance!
Cheers
/Hoffe
On 14 Feb 2001 11:57:47 -0500, Vince Vielhaber wrote: > On Wed, 14 Feb 2001, Bruce Momjian wrote: > > > I am not sure how many people have looked at my book on Amazon.com, but > > I have received my first negative book review: > > > > http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0201703319/o/qid%3D976592762/sr%3D8-1/ref%3Daps%5Fsr%5Fb%5F1%5F3/104-0116316-8891907 > > > > I guess everyone isn't going to like my book. :-) > > Did you read any of his other reviews? He doesn't strike me as a happy > person. Someone musta moved his cheese. His data base server crashed??? Come on now Bruce! We all get a bad review from time to time. Don't lose any sleep. Your next book will be perfect - "Dreamweaver Ultradev application building with Postgresql" =:-` Cheers Tony Grant