Re: RPM vs. Compile benefits?

On Fri, Oct 22, 2004 at 11:04:04 -0400,
Doug Y <dylists(at)ptd(dot)net> wrote:
> Hello,
> I'm curious if I would see any specific benefit from compiling
> Postgres from scratch vs. using an RPM supplied by the distribution?
> We're currently using 7.4.2 from an RPM on SuSE 9.0 Pro. I'd guess RPMs
> are usually configured with the least common denominator in mind. All
> the software is stock on the system from SuSE. I'd guess I might see
> some overall system performance by a custom kernel compile (currently
> 2.6.4-52-smp), but thats not directly Postgres related. Hardware is dual
> Intel P3-1Ghz / 4G Ram / raid 0 if that makes any difference.

The rpms prossibly include some stuff that is not part of the core project
but are still things you want to have. Figuring out what you want and
pulling it all together may be more work than you want to do. Also
rembember that if you change build options you should do a dump and
restore even when upgrading between minor releases in the same series
(unless you know for sure the changed build options won't change the
disk layout).

> Also, any significant reason to upgrade to 7.4.5? Obviously if compiling
> would be a boost, I'd also upgrade at the same time, but only unless I
> had a meaningful reason to compile in the first place. I've heard 7.4.2
> has some problems with index bloat? How would that manifest itself?

I think the answer to this is yes you should upgrade. But you can look
at the release notes and decide for yourself.