Re: "Too far out of the mainstream"

On Tue, Sep 4, 2012 at 10:35 AM, Scott Marlowe <scott(dot)marlowe(at)gmail(dot)com>wrote:

>
>
> Since there's no reporting requirements for using postgresql
> commercially etc, it's kind of a stealth database. It's all over the
> place and nobody knows it. Meanwhile, finding qualified PostgreSQL
> DBAs is pretty tough because of it's silent yet explosive growth in
> usage.
>
>
> Ever since I have been doing database stuff (since 1999), PostgreSQL has
been the go-to db in the open source world for complex business
applications, first because MySQL didn't have transactions and later
because it's just better. I don't think the stealth phenomenon is just a
matter of no reporting requirements. After all MySQL's exposure is way
beyond its reporting requirements.

Rather here's the thing: You have basically two kinds of uses for RDBMS's
out there. The first is for internal information storage, centralization,
and management, and the second is as a platform for applications you are
going to sell or otherwise distribute. PostgreSQL has always been far more
at home in the former than the latter. This is the exact opposite of
MySQL which is today really built almost exclusively for the latter at the
expense of the former (sql_mode being subject to each application's
discretion and the like).

So people are using PostgreSQL in roles that aren't very visible anyway,
DBA's are usually coming to PostgreSQL from other RDBMS's, and few
applications are really distributed for PostgreSQL.

I do think that is changing. Last year I went to the Malaysian Government
Open Source Software convention and was amazed at the visibility of
PostgreSQL. We were the only booth advertising services for official
PostgreSQL versions but advertised EnterpriseDB resellers were more common
than people advertising MySQL services even when you add Oracle to the mix
(they were there too). At the same time, my sense from talking with people
there was that despite the way that EDB's marketing had framed the official
version as the "community edition," the official version was by far the
most common open source RDBMS used in the public sector in Malaysia. Not
only this but there was significant interest in moving more db's to
PostgreSQL, but the big limitation is that everyone who knows PostgreSQL
already has a job.

Best Wishes,
Chris Travers