Re: PostgreSQL pollutes the file system

On 3/20/19 2:11 PM, Tom Lane wrote:
> "Fred .Flintstone" <eldmannen(at)gmail(dot)com> writes:
>> Even just creating symlinks would be a welcome change.
>> So the real binary is pg_foo and foo is a symoblic link that points to pg_foo.
>> Then at least I can type pg_<tab> and use tab auto-completion to find
>> everything related to PostgreSQL.
>
> You'd miss psql. I think the odds of renaming psql are not
> distinguishable from zero: whatever arguments you might want to make
> about, say, renaming initdb perhaps not affecting too many scripts
> are surely not going to fly for psql. So that line of argument
> isn't too convincing.

To add to that, for better or worse, many people associate the
PostgreSQL database itself as "psql" or "pgsql" ("I use psql, it's my
favorite database!").

If we are evaluating this whole symlink / renaming thing, there could be
arguments for a "pgsql" alias to psql (or vice versa), but I don't think
"pg_sql" makes any sense and could be fairly confusing.

Jonathan