Re: default locale considered harmful? (was Re: [GENERAL]

On Thu, 5 Jun 2003, Alvaro Herrera Munoz wrote:

> On Thu, Jun 05, 2003 at 09:44:21AM -0600, scott.marlowe wrote:
> > On Thu, 5 Jun 2003, Nigel J. Andrews wrote:
>
> > Everything Nigel just wrote plus one thing.
> >
> > If it comes down to it, we could always require a --locale setting and
> > refuse to initdb without it. That way, whether it's in an RPM or from
> > source, somebody somewhere along the line has to choose something.
>
> Yeah, that way the RPM guys would put the --locale taking the locale
> from the environment and you're back to ground zero.
>
> There's no point in forcing things down the throat of users using this
> kind of mechanisms, because someone is going to automate the thing
> along the way. What is needed is a way to make the user aware of his
> system's configuration.

But initdb IS different since it takes so much effort to change locales
once you've set up a cluster.

Unless the other locales can offer similar performance to the C locale, I
would suggest that we make the C locale the default. IF they need
something else they can change it after initdb.

If you're an old time user, you know how to set locale, and the
implications of a non-C locale, so a default of C is no big deal, and
you're likely to be looking at initdb to see the message telling you it's
using C.

If you're a beginner you likely need or want a locale of C, but don't know
it, and don't know that you can't change it without reinitdbing.

My only concern with going with a default locale of C is if it causes a
problem with data integrity (i.e. constraints that only behave right in a
certain locale).