Re: Please change default characterset for database cluster

CN wrote:
> Hi!
> "initdb" use SQL_ASCII as the default characterset encoding when it is
> not given option "-E" and when it can not correctly derive one from
> locale. I suggest "initdb" use UNICODE instead of SQL_ASCII because
> UNICODE is far more useful than SQL_ASCII.
>
> Not all webmasters are willing to spend time reading "initdb"
> documentation. I have encountered a free web hosting providing
> PhpPgAdmin through which I can create my databases. Problem is that all
> newly created databases use SQL_ASCII which is completely useless to me.
> Their PhpPgAdmin script does not support "-E" switch for "createdb". As
> a result, I have to abandon that service all together. Was "initdb"
> using UNICODE as the default characterset, everthing would be perfect.

In addition to the general comment that the world does not necessarily
revolve around you, and that you should not expect all software products
in the world to be customized to suit *your* needs, I have to highlight
how horrifying this is:

> Not all webmasters are willing to spend time reading "initdb"
> documentation.

This is truly horrifying --- well, fortunately, one could hope that it
is as wrong as the rest of your message; that dumb and lazy end users
and computer illiterate people are not willing to spend time reading
documentation or instructions is ok... But webmasters and database
administrators??? Do you *seriously* expect that some highly complex
software like a DB server should be handled by people who are not
willing to read documentation???? That's the most preposterous notion
I've read in the last few months!

Another detail to add --- for a lot of people, Unicode is a useless
feature that has a very important performance hit. For a *very large*
fraction of applications, I see it generally advised to use a database
with no encoding (which SQL_ASCII essentially is), and in the situations
where some locale-aware processing is needed, then the client
application can do it.

Of course, there are also many many applications where a DB with
Unicode encoding is very useful. In those cases, the administrators
can create a database with Unicode encoding (you seem to be one of
those that are too busy to be willing to spend time reading the
documentation of *createdb*), regardless of what default encoding was
specified with initdb.

Oh, and BTW, welcome to version 8 of PostgreSQL ... The default
encoding for initdb is ..... Ta-daaaa!!! Unicode !!!

Carlos
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