Re: Installation instructions vs binaries

On Thu, Jul 16, 2020 at 6:25 PM David G. Johnston <
david(dot)g(dot)johnston(at)gmail(dot)com> wrote:

> On Wed, Jul 15, 2020 at 4:13 AM Magnus Hagander <magnus(at)hagander(dot)net>
> wrote:
>
>> It's kind of strange that if you start your PostgreSQL journey by reading
>> our instructions, you get nothing useful about installing PostgreSQL from
>> binary packages other than "go ask somebody else about it". Yet we have
>> pretty good step by step instructions on our *website* for it.
>>
>> Attached patch adds a chapter to the docs about installing from binaries,
>> and refers those users to the website download instructions (and updates
>> the Windows instructions to include an actual link to the website).
>>
>> It also adds mention of it in a few other places - -there are probably
>> more that could use some help with that in the future. But I've seen a lot
>> of people get confused by our documentation assuming everything is from
>> source when it comes to initdb and pg_ctl that I think it's worth specially
>> mentioning it there.
>>
>
Dang, I forgot to add this to the cf page, so I forgot about it myself :)

Thanks. Adding tips calling out common package-specific/handled pieces
> seems ok.
>
> One typo for the patch as-is:
>
> + When PostgreSQL is installed using binary packages, starting and
> stopping
> + of the system is normally integrated with the service management on
> the
> + platform. Refer to the documentation for the documentation for these
> + packages and the platform for more information.
>
> Remove "for the documentation"
>

Hah, yeah, that's cute.

However, maybe we should avoid repeated use of the passive "When PostgreSQL
> is installed using binary packages". Consider just: "PostgreSQL binary
> packages". e.g.,
>
> PostgreSQL binary packages normally include platform-appropriate service
> management (starting and stopping). Consult the package documentation for
> more information.
>
> (the other two can be rewording similarly if this is deemed better - all
> three should be consistent).
>

Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. How about like this?

--
Magnus Hagander
Me: https://www.hagander.net/ <http://www.hagander.net/>
Work: https://www.redpill-linpro.com/ <http://www.redpill-linpro.com/>