Re: initdb start server recommendation

On 5/1/15 10:55 AM, Euler Taveira wrote:
> On 01-05-2015 11:14, Bruce Momjian wrote:
>> Currently initdb outputs suggested text on starting the server:
>>
>> Success. You can now start the database server using:
>>
>> /u/pgsql/bin/postgres -D /u/pgsql/data
>> or
>> /u/pgsql/bin/pg_ctl -D /u/pgsql/data -l logfile start
>>
>> I am now thinking pg_ctl should be recommended first. At the time this
>> text was written pg_ctl was new.
>>
> +1.
>
> BTW, why are we advocating postgres binary use at all? AFAICS the main
> postgres (or postmaster) uses are (i) startup script (which also
> advocate for 'pg_ctl -w') and (ii) disaster/debugging purposes. None of
> those use cases are intended for general users. Let's make it simple and
> drop 'postgres' line.

1. I like copying and pasting the "postgres" line during development.
That's not a reason to keep it, necessarily.

2. If you're saying, most people shouldn't run postgres directly, then
most people also shouldn't run initdb directly. This message will
mainly be seen either by developers or testers or tutorial users or
do-it-yourselfers. In which case knowing the functionality of the
postgres program is valid.

3. It's not clear that pg_ctl is necessarily the best way to start the
server. With things like systemd, launchd, supervisord that like to
manage the daemons directly, using postgres directly might be the
preferable choice.