Re: SQL feature requests

>
> > This seems like a particularly petty case compared to a lot of other
> > extensions we do allow.
>
> That's exactly the problem. Most of our other extensions are
justified
> by some significant capability gain. This isn't --- it provides zero
> new functionality, and the "convenience" factor amounts to the saving
> of
> one keystroke (ok, maybe two if you insist on a space before the
> alias).
> Pretty weak argument...
>
> regards, tom lane
>

Tom, it isn't just a case of "convenience". When we are trying to
convert users from another database (say Oracle for example) to
PostgeSQL, one of the big stumbling blocks that slows down the work is
all the little query changes that people have to make (people who might
not have written the query as well), and it can require the review of
hundreds or thousands of SQL scripts and applications. The harder it
is, the more reluctant they are to convert.

Sometimes supporting "de-facto" standards as well as official standards
makes sense.