[H-GEN] MySQL v. PostgreSQL [was: Mysql & bitwise xor]

[Greg Black]

[ Humbug *General* list - semi-serious discussions about Humbug and     ]
[ Unix-related topics. Posts from non-subscribed addresses will vanish. ]

On 2003-11-17, Opec Kemp wrote:
> Greg Black wrote:
> > 
> > Looking at the packages collection for FreeBSD-4.9 (which I
> > will be installing soon), I seem to have a choice of three MySQL
> > versions: 3.23.58, 4.0.15 and 4.1.0.  Which would you
> > recommend for somebody who is on the verge of making the move
> > to MySQL (after years of exclusive use of PostgreSQL)?
> 
> Sorry to hi-jack this thread but, I'd be interested to hear why you are
> moving from PostgreSQL to MySQL?. The reason I asked is not to start
> another MySQL v.s. PostgreSQL flame war but, I would like to hear your
> reasons as you always have very interesting insights and constructive
> opinions which I enjoyed reading. :) 
> 
> I have heard many reviews/articles etc on web sites which give some
> information for pros and cons etc. by some author which I really have no
> idea of their "real" expertise in the field. Having used MySQL and
> PostgreSQL myself for quite sometimes, I personally prefer PostgreSQL so
> it would be interesting to hear your opinions why you are moving away
> from it.

To start with, anybody who is using MySQL or PostgreSQL and is
happy with it should never switch to the other just because some
"expert" says one is better than the other.

This is equally true for the vi/Emacs, sendmail/qmail/postfix,
Linux/FreeBSD/NetBSD/OpenBSD, etc., debates.

Now, to the actual question.  When I initially chose PostgreSQL,
there were two other potential contenders that met my prime
requirements -- mSQL and MySQL.  However, evaluation of them as
they then were established that both lacked a small set of SQL
capabilities that were critical to my intended use; at that
time, PostgreSQL was the only possible candidate.  So I set it
up and have been using it happily for years.

All my current PostgreSQL applications are either part of my
commercial software (working nicely for customers who are very
happy with it) or in use for our in-house applications.  Nothing
will change for any of those applications; and any future
development that I might do for any of those customers will be
done with PostgreSQL.  It works, I'm happy with it, and it will
always do what I need.

However, just as I use ed and vi and emacs every day to make
sure that I keep my hand in with them, I am happy to have a look
at MySQL and to consider it for some of the in-house utilities
that I'll be developing over the next year or two.  The reasons
for doing this now are twofold:  (1) My general research has
shown that MySQL has come a very long way over the past eight
years and that it now supports those missing features that were
show-stoppers back then; and Arjen's recent talk at Humbug was a
nice bit of icing on that particular cake.  (2) Lots of other
software that I want to install from packages turns out to use
MySQL by default for backend database stuff, and it would make
sense for me to be able to just go with the flow there.

So, to make things clearer -- I did not mean that I was moving
toward MySQL and *away from* PostgreSQL, only that I was getting
ready to adopt MySQL *as well as* PostgreSQL.

Cheers, Greg

--
* This is list (humbug) general handled by majordomo at lists.humbug.org.au .
* Postings to this list are only accepted from subscribed addresses of
* lists 'general' or 'general-post'.  See http://www.humbug.org.au/