Re: Rename backup_label to recovery_control

On Mon, Oct 16, 2023 at 11:15:53AM -0400, David Steele wrote:
> On 10/16/23 10:19, Robert Haas wrote:
> > We got rid of exclusive backup mode. We replaced pg_start_backup
> > with pg_backup_start.
>
> I do think this was an improvement. For example it allows us to do
> [1], which I believe is a better overall solution to the problem of
> torn reads of pg_control. With exclusive backup we would not have this
> option.

Well maybe, but it also seems to mean that any other 3rd party (i.e. not
Postgres-specific) backup tool seems to only support Postgres up till
version 14, as they cannot deal with non-exclusive mode - they are used
to a simple pre/post-script approach.

Not sure what to do about this, but as people/companies start moving to
15, I am afraid we will get people complaining about this. I think
having exclusive mode still be the default for pg_start_backup() (albeit
deprecated) in one release and then dropping it in the next was too
fast.

Or is somebody helping those "enterprise" backup solutions along in
implementing non-exclusive Postgres backups?

Michael