Thread: A bit confused about Postgres Plus

Hi,

as the Enterprise DB distribution ("One Click Installer") seems to be the recommendation from the Postgres team for a
binarydownload, I wonder what the exact difference between Postgres and Postgres Plus is. 

I can't find a direct comparison ("feature matrix") of the three EnterpriseDB offerings on their website. When I click
onthe Postgres Plus documentation, there is a link to an "Oracle Compatibility Guide" which even includes references to
theimplementation of the CONNECT BY operator and a PL/SQL compatible language.  

Does this mean, these features are available in the Postgres Plus package, or is it still only available in the
AdvancedServer? 

I also find the Pricing overview page a bit confusing. The "Support Limitations" show "Non-Production Applications
only"for Postgres and Postgres Plus. I assume this limitation only refers to the support subscription but not to the
usageof those products, right? 


Regards
Thomas

On Wednesday 17 December 2008 11:40:18 Thomas Kellerer wrote:
> as the Enterprise DB distribution ("One Click Installer") seems to be the
> recommendation from the Postgres team for a binary download, I wonder what
> the exact difference between Postgres and Postgres Plus is.

There is actually a bit of contention in the group about what is really
recommended.  I would recommend that you stick with the platform-specific
binary packages listed later on the download page.

Hi

On Wed, Dec 17, 2008 at 9:40 AM, Thomas Kellerer <spam_eater@gmx.net> wrote:
> Hi,

These are really questions for us (EnterpriseDB rather than
pgsql-general) - especially as none of the pricing or support pages
are linked directly from postgresql.org.

> as the Enterprise DB distribution ("One Click Installer") seems to be the
> recommendation from the Postgres team for a binary download, I wonder what
> the exact difference between Postgres and Postgres Plus is.

The one-click installer is the pure open source installer that we
build for the community.

There are two versions of Postgres Plus:

- Standard Server (or just Postgres Plus) is also pure Open Source,
but comes bundled with additional software that is not in the
PostgreSQL installer - for example, ODBC/JDBC drivers, Slony and
PostGIS.

- Advanced Server is not Open Source, and includes our Oracle
compatibility, replication/migration tools, GridSQL, DBA Management
Server and other tools.

(note that features vary slightly by platform).

> I can't find a direct comparison ("feature matrix") of the three
> EnterpriseDB offerings on their website. When I click on the Postgres Plus
> documentation, there is a link to an "Oracle Compatibility Guide" which even
> includes references to the implementation of the CONNECT BY operator and a
> PL/SQL compatible language.
> Does this mean, these features are available in the Postgres Plus package,
> or is it still only available in the Advanced Server?

See the 'What version is right for you' section of
http://www.enterprisedb.com/products/overview.do

> I also find the Pricing overview page a bit confusing. The "Support
> Limitations" show "Non-Production Applications only" for Postgres and
> Postgres Plus. I assume this limitation only refers to the support
> subscription but not to the usage of those products, right?

Yeah, that is a little confusing. I think what it's trying to tell you
is what amount of support you get for the subscription level you buy
*should you choose to buy support from us*. Obviously you do not have
to buy anything from us to use the PostgreSQL or Postgres Plus
Standard Server packages for development or production.

I'll ask the marketing folks to look at improving that.

--
Dave Page
EnterpriseDB UK:   http://www.enterprisedb.com

Hi Dave,

Dave Page, 17.12.2008 11:05:
> These are really questions for us (EnterpriseDB rather than
> pgsql-general) - especially as none of the pricing or support pages
> are linked directly from postgresql.org.

Yes, partially :)

But then the upgrade path from Postgres to the Advanced Server is a very good argument for choosing Postgres (and a
majoradvantage over other so-called OpenSource RDBMS), so that's why I chose to post to pgsql-general - and because I
knowyou guys are reading this :)  

> - Advanced Server is not Open Source, and includes our Oracle
> compatibility, replication/migration tools, GridSQL, DBA Management
> Server and other tools.

That's what I thought as well.

It's a bit confusing that the documentation link on the right hand side _seems_ to relate to the current product (which
itdoesn't) and then includes the compatibility guide.  

Maybe you should have column on http://www.enterprisedb.com/learning/documentation.do indicating for package the
documentis relevant. 

> Yeah, that is a little confusing. I think what it's trying to tell you
> is what amount of support you get for the subscription level you buy
> *should you choose to buy support from us*. Obviously you do not have
> to buy anything from us to use the PostgreSQL or Postgres Plus
> Standard Server packages for development or production.
>
> I'll ask the marketing folks to look at improving that.
Fine :)

Thanks for the quick answer and clarification.

Thomas

On Wed, Dec 17, 2008 at 10:31 AM, Thomas Kellerer <spam_eater@gmx.net> wrote:

> It's a bit confusing that the documentation link on the right hand side
> _seems_ to relate to the current product (which it doesn't) and then
> includes the compatibility guide.
> Maybe you should have column on
> http://www.enterprisedb.com/learning/documentation.do indicating for package
> the document is relevant.

I see what you mean. I've asked the website people to look at this.

Thanks.

--
Dave Page
EnterpriseDB UK:   http://www.enterprisedb.com

Alvaro Herrera wrote on 17.12.2008 13:28:
 > Thomas Kellerer wrote:
 >
 >> as the Enterprise DB distribution ("One Click Installer") seems to be
 >> the recommendation from the Postgres team for a binary download, I
 >> wonder what the exact difference between Postgres and Postgres Plus
 >> is.
 >
 > "Recommendation"?  I find this a worrying statement, and hereby request
 > that the one-click installer is moved after the community supported
 > packages where we have them (Windows and Linux), and that the source
 > code link is moved upper in the main downloads page.
 >

[I'm reading this list through the newsserver at news.gmane.org, and several
answers did not seem to make it to news.gmane.org but only to my private email]

The reason I used the word "recomendation" is, that two friends of mine whom I
recommended Postgres were downloading the EnterpriseDB package because that was
"the first on the list".

Those were the Windows and Mac OS X binaries.

When you go to http://www.postgresql.org/download/ and then either click on
Windows or Mac OS X, the "one click installer" is the first option (and it's the
same for Linux).

Thomas

On Wed, 2008-12-17 at 10:05 +0000, Dave Page wrote:

> On Wed, Dec 17, 2008 at 9:40 AM, Thomas Kellerer <spam_eater@gmx.net> wrote:
> > Hi,
>
> These are really questions for us (EnterpriseDB rather than
> pgsql-general) - especially as none of the pricing or support pages
> are linked directly from postgresql.org.

But there are still links to commercial websites from both pgAdmin and
from tools included with the one-click installers.

Both of those should either be removed, altered to make them editable or
expanded to allow all companies listed on the Services pages to take
advantage also.

I'm sure there's a few others lurking from other companies also, so
while I have specific objections, I have general ones also.

A free market is better for consumers and an even playing field is the
best way to cooperate. I'm sure it wouldn't be much use if everybody
stopped writing patches and concentrated on writing installers instead
so they can slip in some commercial advantage...

--
 Simon Riggs           www.2ndQuadrant.com
 PostgreSQL Training, Services and Support

On Wed, 2008-12-17 at 23:33 +0000, Simon Riggs wrote:
> On Wed, 2008-12-17 at 10:05 +0000, Dave Page wrote:

> A free market is better for consumers and an even playing field is the
> best way to cooperate. I'm sure it wouldn't be much use if everybody
> stopped writing patches and concentrated on writing installers instead
> so they can slip in some commercial advantage...

As both pgAdmin and the one-click installers are fully open source, I
fail to see how this is reasonable. If you don't like how pgAdmin is
packaged, you can always create your own.

Sincerely,

Joshua D. Drake


>
> --
>  Simon Riggs           www.2ndQuadrant.com
>  PostgreSQL Training, Services and Support
>
>
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