Re: pg_dump transaction's read-only mode

Stefan Kaltenbrunner <stefan(at)kaltenbrunner(dot)cc> writes:
> On 01/21/2013 02:00 PM, Tom Lane wrote:
>> (It's entirely likely that the 7.0 server I keep around for testing this
>> is the last one in captivity anywhere. But IIRC, we've heard fairly
>> recent reports of people still using 7.2. We'd have to desupport before
>> 7.3 to save any meaningful amount of pg_dump code, so I'm not convinced
>> it's time to pull the trigger on this quite yet.)

> old versions are still alive - just yesterday we had someone on IRC
> trying to build 7.1.3 on a modern ubuntu installation because he has an
> old app depending on it., and especially 7.2 shows up regulary as well.

> If the effort to keep pg_dump support for those alive is not too bad, we
> should try to support them as long as we can.

Of course, the counter-argument is that people who are still using those
versions are probably not going to be interested in upgrading to a
modern version anyway. Or if they are, dumping with their existing
version of pg_dump is likely to not be much worse than dumping with the
target version's pg_dump --- as Robert mentioned upthread, if you're
migrating from such an old version you're in for a lot of compatibility
issues anyhow, most of which pg_dump can't save you from.

Having said that, I'm not in a hurry to pull pg_dump support for old
versions. But we can't keep it up forever. In particular, once that
old HPUX box dies, I'm not likely to want to try to get 7.0 to compile
on a newer box just so I can keep checking pg_dump compatibility.

regards, tom lane