For the ametures. (related to "Are we losing momentum?")

I am not a hacker of PgSQL, and new to Databases. I was using MySQL
under .NET, but was annoyed by their agressive licence agreements and
immaturity. (Their sales personel are also very rude. One girl once
told me that if I didn't like their licence terms I should just use
flat-files instead.) One of the .NET developers for MySQL advised me to
look at PostgreSQL, and I have never looked back.

This was not the fist time I looked at PostgreSQL, I initially looked at
30+ Databases, but rejected PostgreSQL off hand. There was no Windows
version.

Speaking stricktly as an ameture, I would like to make a few comments I
could not see mensioned in this thread. This is not a dig, more a wish
list!

Because: With the expanding industry and popularity of IT as part of
unrelated collage courses (Engineering, Accountancy etc), there are lots
of ametures and newbe's. We will never be first class hackers, we will
probably never get to the end of the manuals or understand what P2C /
FE/BE is or where it's used. But we are the silent magority. (I am
personally extreamly dyslexic. I learn from example, talking and brief
painful trips into the documentation archives.)

Therefore we learn as much as we need to know. In time I am sure we all
want to be guru's in everything. I have lots of ameture friends at this
level, running ISP's, producing commercial applications, in unrelated
research, needing office systems... All needing a DB. Most using
MS-SQL or MySQL.

To draw on a popular examples, MySQL helps the ameture: (I'm putting my
foot in it that some of this probably exists. I just haven't found it yet.)

- A true Windows version which people can learn their craft on.
- Tools which look like Access, to do row level data editing with no SQL.
- Easy to use and remember command extensions, like 'CREATE IF NOT
EXISTS', 'DROP IF EXISTS' which are universal.
- Centrally located complete documentation in many consistent easy to
read formats, of the system and *ALL* API's, including in-line tutorials
and examples.
- Data types like 'ENUM' which appeal to ametures.
- There are no administrative mandatorys. Eg, VACUUM. (A stand-alone
commercial app, like an Email client, will be contrainted by having to
be an app and a DBA in one.)
- The tables (not innodb) are in different files of the same name.
Allowing the OS adminitrator great ability. EG, putting tables on
separate partitions and therefore greatly speeding performance.
- They have extensive backup support. Including now, concurrent backup
without user interuption or risk of inconsistency.

Now I have begun to climb the ladder a bit, I know this it of little
importance compared to working referential constraints, triggers,
procedures and transactions... You also have the excelent mailing list
'novice', with excelent support for Ametures, with the most friendly
welcome note: 'No problem too minor'! Thanks to you all for providing
the system I am now beginning to enjoy using.

PS: I like the '\dt'. Especially the way it can be used half way
through a true statement, inspired bit of genious there.

Ben