Re: default client encoding in postgresql.conf

Robert Treat <xzilla(at)users(dot)sourceforge(dot)net> writes:
> looking in my freshly installed 8.3.3, I see this in the postgresql.conf
> #client_encoding = sql_ascii # actually, defaults to database
> # encoding

> Now, certainly initdb can't know for sure what encoding a future database will
> be in, but since it does know what encoding template0 & friends will be in,
> and most databases are copied from those (including encoding), wouldn't a
> better default be to set it the encoding of template0?

No. Setting it at all in postgresql.conf is generally the wrong thing;
the right thing is to let the default behavior (ie, make it equal to the
database encoding) happen.

regards, tom lane