Re: Feedback from LinuxWorld, London

On 10/10/05, Josh Berkus <josh(at)agliodbs(dot)com> wrote:
> Well, better migration tools would be a start. PHP's gradual transition to
> PDO (and working with the PDO folks to make PDO_pgsql better, like not
> doing count(*)) will help a lot too; the biggest MySQL migration
> complaints I here are from users of PHP stuff like *Nuke and various Wikis
> which sprinkle SQL throughout the interface code.

That is because the recent generations of web developers grew up (and
continue to grow up) with MySQL as the 'default' database, and thus
think it is perfectly normal to scatter their DDL/DML throughout the
source tree of their apps. This is what I am cleaning up in Joomla!
with the 1.2 release, which has been necessitated by the inclusion of
ADOdb (and therefore PostgreSQL and others). I cannot wait to get that
work started! :-D

> More important than any of these would be a 5-page guide, "Migration Tips
> from MySQL to PostgreSQL."

And not just about SQL, but focus on the operational/administrative
aspects. You wouldn't believe how frustrated PHP/MySQL-ers get after
losing an hour with the "tcp sockets not enabled by default" problem
when trying to evaluate PostgreSQL for the first time. Before they
even learn how to connect to the database they are already frustrated
and feeling helpless...

I'm trying to convince the other Joomla! core developers to use
PostgreSQL as the standard reference/development platform, in order to
get closer to the SQL standards. If I end up writing any tutorial-type
stuff I will pass it along over here. Wish me luck ;-)

One thing for sure though - as both PHP matures as a technology, and
web developers also gain sophistication, PostgreSQL is uniquely
positioned as the one F/OSS database that will meet their needs. I see
a great opportunity here, and Oracle's purchase of Innobase - and the
resulting drama across the internet - will also push more web
developers towards PostgreSQL, even if only for evaluation.

-- Mitch