3 ms·

It may well be very good, but it's much more painful to set up and get running than MySQL.

by shiranaihito 17y ago

davidw 17y ago
No it isn't: apt-get install postgresql Then a few commands to create databases and users and things, and you're good.
- tdavis 17y ago
  Have the shipped configs improved to the point that you get a production database out of the gate? I've been using (and loving) psql for years, but I've never once trusted the default postgresql.conf.
  - tsuraan 17y ago
    Under Gentoo, at least, the default postgresql.conf is still garbage. limit of 100 connections, hardly any shared memory, really nothing about it is good. I don't think shipping a good config file is possible though; we need a good config file generator, that looks at kernel configuration and hardware configuration and makes a good config based off that. It doesn't look like such a thing exists though.
    - bayareaguy 17y ago
      Doesn't the Enterprise DB distribution of PostgreSQL include a tuning wizard? http://www.enterprisedb.com/products/postgres_plus/overview.do http://www.enterprisedb.com/products/postgres_plus/overview....
  - rbanffy 17y ago
    Last time I checked on Debian, no. But it was more or less painless - just edit a couple settings on the config files and you are good to go. IIRC, I had to adjust memory footprint (telling PostgreSQL to feel at home and use all it wanted to use) and tell it to trust the disk subsystem and the UPS (turning synchronous writes off). From that point on, it withstood a huge beating.
- shiranaihito 17y ago
  Well, it got really frustrating after that. It dropped stuff in at least three different directories, and then I had to track down where its config files live, which config happens to contain what, and so on. I changed the data directory, but the new data directory was not "formatted" or something, so I got a hand-wavy error message that naturally said nothing about formatting the new data directory, and so on. All in all, it was a painful experience.
compay 17y ago
That's likely only a result of your unfamiliarity with Postgres relative to MySQL. Also, installing via apt on any Debian-based Linux is pretty much just as easy with Postgres as it is for MySQL.
- datums 17y ago
  One problem with moving to postgres is replication. It's not a drop in replacement. Enterprise DB was working on having the pain of replication scripted.
- shiranaihito 17y ago
  > That's likely only a result of your unfamiliarity with Postgres relative to MySQL. True, but the first time I ever did anything with MySQL was far less painful than with PostgreSQL. Besides, setting up a database should be easy because it's easy, not because you remember exactly what to do.

It may well be very good, but it's much more painful to set up and get running than MySQL.

davidw 17y ago

No it isn't: apt-get install postgresql Then a few commands to create databases and users and things, and you're good.

tdavis 17y ago
Have the shipped configs improved to the point that you get a production database out of the gate? I've been using (and loving) psql for years, but I've never once trusted the default postgresql.conf.
- tsuraan 17y ago
  Under Gentoo, at least, the default postgresql.conf is still garbage. limit of 100 connections, hardly any shared memory, really nothing about it is good. I don't think shipping a good config file is possible though; we need a good config file generator, that looks at kernel configuration and hardware configuration and makes a good config based off that. It doesn't look like such a thing exists though.
  - bayareaguy 17y ago
    Doesn't the Enterprise DB distribution of PostgreSQL include a tuning wizard? http://www.enterprisedb.com/products/postgres_plus/overview.do http://www.enterprisedb.com/products/postgres_plus/overview....
- rbanffy 17y ago
  Last time I checked on Debian, no. But it was more or less painless - just edit a couple settings on the config files and you are good to go. IIRC, I had to adjust memory footprint (telling PostgreSQL to feel at home and use all it wanted to use) and tell it to trust the disk subsystem and the UPS (turning synchronous writes off). From that point on, it withstood a huge beating.
shiranaihito 17y ago
Well, it got really frustrating after that. It dropped stuff in at least three different directories, and then I had to track down where its config files live, which config happens to contain what, and so on. I changed the data directory, but the new data directory was not "formatted" or something, so I got a hand-wavy error message that naturally said nothing about formatting the new data directory, and so on. All in all, it was a painful experience.

compay 17y ago

That's likely only a result of your unfamiliarity with Postgres relative to MySQL. Also, installing via apt on any Debian-based Linux is pretty much just as easy with Postgres as it is for MySQL.

datums 17y ago
One problem with moving to postgres is replication. It's not a drop in replacement. Enterprise DB was working on having the pain of replication scripted.
shiranaihito 17y ago
> That's likely only a result of your unfamiliarity with Postgres relative to MySQL. True, but the first time I ever did anything with MySQL was far less painful than with PostgreSQL. Besides, setting up a database should be easy because it's easy, not because you remember exactly what to do.