Re: MySQL vs. PostgreSQL

On Mon, 2002-07-15 at 17:29, Philip Hallstrom wrote:
> > > An interesting talk back was posted to this article that parallels the
> > > experience of many folks with postgresql and mysql.
> > >
> > > http://phpbuilder.com/annotate/message.php3?id=1010522
> >
> > OK, reading this article makes me want to throw in my .02c.
> >
> > - "most web developers" have no clue about transactions, referential
> > integrity, triggers, stored procedures.
> > - "most web developers" are dealing with small applications (think
> > product catalogs with a couple of tables, with less than 1K rows).
> > - Therefore, "most web developers" happen to be in the "sweet spot" for
> > mysql's performance vs. it's set of features.
> >
> > That's why all these web development industry zines keep saying "mysql
> > is best". I'm making these statements based on my experience since '96,
> > working in the Internet Service Provider, and web development industries.
> >
> > For this to change, somehow, the average web developer needs to be
> > educated about the world beyond MySQL. I really really hope this
> > happens, somehow. Just thinking out loud...
>
> Why does this need to change? I don't mean to start a war (I love
> postgres), but if mysql works for these people why should they learn
> something else? Take other technologies...
>
> ... if notepad works for HTML, why make them learn FrontPage/Dreamweaver?
> ... if a P400 running linux works for their webserver, why should they buy
> a Sun ES1000?
>
> In both cases they don't need it and won't use the added features.
>
> I'm not saying that we shouldn't education people, but I think for the
> "web developers" mentioned above postgres will lose that battle against
> mysql. Mysql does what they need it to do and it's everywhere. Just
> look at the number of ISP's that have mysql support vs postgres support.
> And yes, I know hub.org has it, but I think it's like $300/mo compared to
> say $10/mo and I know why that's the case, but for the people mentioned
> above they don't and they don't need to.
>
> I think what people need educating on is that *once* you've grown beyond
> mysql there is another open source (ie. free) database you can move to
> instead of shelling out $$$ for oracle and friends.
>
> That is postgresql's market.. at least in my mind.
>
> just my 2 cents...
>
> and again, I don't mean this to start a war, I like postgres just fine :)
>
> -philip
>

I think the education that needs to take place is the answer to "at what
point do I outgrow mysql?" While I suppose ACIDity is not required for
every application (though some would argue that point I'm sure) it
probably should be used in many more applications than it is. A good
example of this would be something like phpauction, which is an online
auction (think ebay) software package based on php and mysql. While I
have never heard of anyone having an issue, to me it is scary to think
there are live auction sites running that need to reliably track things
like bid times and monetary amounts that are doing it without any of the
"data insurance" that postgres brings to the table. And I'm not picking
on phpauction (I refer to it because I have submitted code for it),
there are a lot of other projects that probably should be using postgres
but the developers don't realize it.

Robert Treat
xzilla(at)users(dot)sourceforge(dot)net