Re: Unsupported 3rd-party solutions (Was: Few questions on postgresql (dblink, 2pc, clustering)) (fwd)

> I agree with you that a third-party solution may not be the most
> comfortable thing to do, but that is one of the inherent risks when
> going Open Source. There is also no guarantee on PostGreSQL doing what
> it is supposed to or what they say it does. The only difference
> between using PostGreSQL and using a product that works with
> PostGreSQL is that you have increased your risk. It was not like you
> were in the safe-zone and were determining whether to take a risk or
> not.

Having been an Oracle user, there's no guarantee from them that things will
work either, and a boatload of lawyers have made sure that their licensing
forms absolve them of any contingent liability for undiagnosed or unfixed
bugs.

Being a paid customer (with support fees that quickly add up to far more
than the initial licensing fees) just gives you more of a right to complain
to somebody, it doesn't guarantee you that things get fixed, or certainly
not in a particular time frame. (I remember complaining at Oracle
user conventions about a particular deficiency in Oracle 7 for several
years, I don't think it got resolved until Oracle 8.)

In my 30 years or so of MIS experience, most of the last decade as a DBA,
I've seen many more serious problems caused by improper use of properly
working tools than by tools that don't work properly.
--
Mike Nolan