Re: Add A Glossary

On 17.05.20 08:51, Alvaro Herrera wrote:
>> On 15.05.20 02:00, Alvaro Herrera wrote:
>>> Thanks everybody. I have compiled together all the suggestions and the
>>> result is in the attached patch. Some of it is of my own devising.
>>>
>>> * I changed "instance", and made "cluster" be mostly a synonym of that.
>> In my understanding, "instance" and "cluster" should be different things,
>> not only synonyms. "instance" can be the term for permanently fluctuating
>> objects (processes and RAM) and "cluster" can denote the more static objects
>> (directories and files). What do you think? If you agree, I would create a
>> patch.
> I don't think that's the general understanding of those terms. For all
> I know, they*are* synonyms, and there's no specific term for "the
> fluctuating objects" as you call them. The instance is either running
> (in which case there are processes and RAM) or it isn't.
>
We have the basic tools "initdb — create a new PostgreSQL database
cluster" which affects nothing but files, and we have "pg_ctl —
initialize, start, stop, or control a PostgreSQL server" which -
directly - affects nothing but processes and RAM. (Here the term
"server" collides with new definitions in the glossary. But that's
another story.)

--

Jürgen Purtz