Re: PostgreSQL Advocacy, Thoughts and Comments

Tony wrote:

> HI All,
>
> I'm glad that this thread prompted some thoughtful response. I think
> one of my main points I was trying to make, Jason hit the nail on the
> head. The article to which I was referring uses a great example which
> I have experienced many times before, but in order to grasp this, PHP
> et al, must be thought of as a scripting language which crosses many
> corporate boundries, and it is easy to assume that it's primary use
> (simple web site back ends) are the only thing to discuss. But the
> situation has changed enourmously since the release of PHP v4. Now
> many consultant/developer/sys-admins like myself are going to client
> site on a contract (this is especially true in the UK, I can't speak
> for anywhere else) and finding complex stocktrading systems, inventory
> systems, CRM systems, and others, all written in PHP backed by MySQL.

So true! I am in the U.S (Florida), and I am seeing the same thing here.
Starting around 2000, many fairly complex, mission-critical PHP/MySQL
apps were developed, which are just beginning to surface. We all know
how prevalent PHP and MySQL became overnight, but how many of us realize
that it was not just used for 'lightweight' applications?. Imagine how
big a problem all these PHP/MySQL applications are going to become over
the next few years. I have had the dubious pleasure of moving a few of
these from MySQL to PostgreSQL already (Yes, financial systems using
MySQL's unconstrained numeric types!!), and I shudder to think about all
the companies that might end up with *years* of poorly-constrained data.

> Whether this is right or wrong, good choice or bad choice is not what
> I'm interested in debating. The point is that when these systems
> where architected, the developers used MySQL not because they were
> dumb, but because many of them develop awesome code and can get around
> most problems in the code, with a little ingenuity. Many simply do
> not have the insight into the potential benefits of *proper* RDBMS can
> offer. Had they had the benefit of such knowledge the code they have
> written would be faster (in DB) and more legible. Sadly often the
> developers are the only source of DBA for some of these companies.

Most medium/small business managers don't even know there is a
difference between the two.

<snip>

> Like Linux vs. Windows, PG has an awful lot going for it in respect to
> MySQL, so why not crow about it. It needs to be pointed at a crowd
> that are DB novices, they need to be told why PG is worth the
> time/knowledge investment, because anyone who reads the MySQL site,
> will come away with the impression that the Trigger, Stored Procs, and
> other things are a luxurious overhead not necessary for getting the
> job done.
>
> I'd gladly help out with such a paper, but find myself in the sad
> position of my prose being open to attack due to my newbieness in the
> DB world and not able to speak authoratatively on the subject.

You're not doing too badly, really. Your writing is good and clear, and
your knowlege is well above the typical corporate IT magazine hack ;-).

Regards,

Rick Morris