Re: RFC: PostgreSQL Add-On Network

On Thu, Jan 7, 2010 at 8:07 PM, David E. Wheeler <david(at)kineticode(dot)com> wrote:
> Hackers,
>
> I've posted a [plan] to implement PGAN][], a CPAN for PostgreSQL extensions. I've tried to closely follow the [CPAN philosophy][] to come up with a plan that requires a minimum-work implementation that builds on the existing PostgreSQL tools and the examples of the [CPAN][] and [JSAN][]. My hope is that it's full of [JFDI][]! I would be very grateful for feedback and suggestions.

Whilst the aim is a noble one, glossing over 'it won't work on
Windows' which is by far our most popular platform these days seems
incredibly short sighted, and liable to lead to an endless stream of
'why doesn't this work' questions. It also does the module authors no
favours, by excluding 50%+ of their potential audience, and frankly,
isn't the way this project generally works.

We have discussed this sort of facility at previous developer
meetings, and as I recall came to the conclusion that we need to have
the ability to distribute pre-built binaries, not just source code as
virtually no Windows users are ever going to have a build environment
setup. Similarly, neither are Mac users, if they didn't install XCode.

We also discussed extension management at the DBMS level, which I
believe Dimitri was working on in his spare time. You should look at
what he's been doing.

Finally, don't write the client in Perl. Again, that's of no use to
most Windows users. C will work on all platforms from the outset, with
no dependencies required. Of course, the server side doesn't matter.

--
Dave Page
EnterpriseDB UK: http://www.enterprisedb.com