[svlug] Re: mySQL vs Postgres (Karen Shaeffer)

[Joe Brenner]

Karen Shaeffer <shaeffer at neuralscape.com> wrote:

> Which platform (mySQL or Postgres) has the larger developer and user
> bases?  Ultimately the feature trajectory of a platform is quite
> important in considering which is best to commit to working with?

I can understand why you'd be worried about issues like
this, but I think you'll find the there isn't a big enough
difference between the two camps for this to be a crucial
point in this case. 

I'm a big postgresql booster, myself... I eavesdrop on the
postgresql-hackers list, and I'm very much impressed with
the team working on postgresql development.  They've made
tremendous amounts of progress in the last two years in
improving speed, stability, and compliance with the SQL
standard, as well as removing some assorted gotchas. For
example, the pesky row size limit is long gone, and the
latest version (7.2) now has VACUUM working as a background
process (previously the table-lock required by VACUUM caused
some problems with 24/7 use).

On the other hand, MySQL had a definite stability advantage
back in the early days of the web, so it *could* be that
there's some software package you want to use that was
designed to work only with MySQL.  That would be the main
reason that I would consider running MySQL, myself.  For
example, if I wanted to use the Slash code, I'd want to
double check that the postgresql support that they've added
really does work...

I have to say that I got a really bad impression of the
MySQL crew a few years back when they had a reputation for
pushing some serious bullshit about relational database
practice (transactions? referential integrity? Aww, you
don't need that junk).  Since that time they've cleaned up
their act a bit, and covered a lot of bullet points...
maybe the bolted on stuff (uh, I mean "modular design")
actually works well these days, I'm not interested enough to
try it for myself.