Re: pgsql-server: Update that 8.0 will support MS Win

From: Bruce Momjian <pgman(at)candle(dot)pha(dot)pa(dot)us>
To: Tom Lane <tgl(at)sss(dot)pgh(dot)pa(dot)us>
Cc: Neil Conway <neilc(at)samurai(dot)com>, pgsql-committers(at)postgresql(dot)org
Subject: Re: pgsql-server: Update that 8.0 will support MS Win
Date: 2004-08-26 04:03:34
Message-ID: 200408260403.i7Q43YM08395@candle.pha.pa.us
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Tom Lane wrote:
> Bruce Momjian <pgman(at)candle(dot)pha(dot)pa(dot)us> writes:
> > Is the release notes even the right place for it? When you read the
> > release notes after 8.1 is released, do you want to read that Win32
> > had possible problems in 8.0?
>
> Sure you do. The release notes are historical material. There is
> plenty of stuff in there that's totally irrelevant now, but we have
> not (and I trust will not) gone back and removed entries that are no
> longer significant.
>
> > Perhaps we should mention it in the
> > release announcement instead?
>
> Why are you so insistent on sweeping this point under the rug? I'd much
> rather underpromise and overdeliver than the reverse. We have plenty of
> reason to be suspicious of the native Windows port at this stage ...
> if you think it's going to be problem-free, I refer you to
> http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-bugs/2004-08/msg00307.php
> for the counterexample du jour. You'd be nuts to think that we'll find
> every one of these issues before 8.0 release.

Agreed, but we just found NT problems today too. The only argument I
can accept is that somehow platform bugs are harder to discover than our
other code bugs.

My concern is that I would like to have some actual facts before making
statements. I am not good on going on guesses, I guess. :-)

The open Win32 bugs have been there for quite some time, though the one
you quote is quite new so maybe platforms bugs are harder to find.

This is the same issue I had with removing NT4 as supported. I needed
to hear facts about what didn't work before making a statement because
when I go on guesses, I am usually wrong and have to somehow take it
back, and in this project, it is hard to retract things effectively.

As an example of the NT4 issue, it turns out it works just fine, just
that it doesn't support tablespaces, and the installer doesn't work.
Once I had that info I could adjust the release notes to just not
mention it in the list of platforms.

What text are people suggesting? "This is a new port and might have
bugs that will be fixed in minor releases?" Or, "This port is
experimental and you would be crazy to use it in production"? :-)

--
Bruce Momjian | http://candle.pha.pa.us
pgman(at)candle(dot)pha(dot)pa(dot)us | (610) 359-1001
+ If your life is a hard drive, | 13 Roberts Road
+ Christ can be your backup. | Newtown Square, Pennsylvania 19073

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