Re: Re: [PATCHES] Select parser at runtime

Peter Eisentraut <peter_e(at)gmx(dot)net> writes:

> Tom Lane writes:
>
> > Now now, what about our goal of Postgres world domination? Gonna be
> > tough to get there unless we can assimilate Oracle users ;-)
>
> In order to achieve world domination you don't want to offer
> compatibility, otherwise your users could move back and forth easily.
> What you want is static conversion tools so people can move to your
> product but not back to others.

I disagree. To achieve world domination you should lower to barriers
to adoption as much as possible, and then keep people with you due to
the superiority of your product. If the barriers to adoption are
high, people won't take the risk, and won't discover the superiority.

Incompatible syntax is a barrier to adoption because people fear the
time required to learn the new syntax, and they fear adopting Postgres
and then discovering after three months of enhancements to their
Postgres code that Postgres won't do the job and they have to switch
back.

Ian