Re: proposal: alternative psql commands quit and exit

On Thu, Dec 7, 2017 at 11:47 PM, Everaldo Canuto
<everaldo(dot)canuto(at)gmail(dot)com> wrote:
> Some of us unfortunately have to work with multiple databases like Oracle or
> MySQL. Their respective clients mysql and sqlplus uses "quit" or "exit" to
> exit sql client.
>
> Oracle's sqlplus uses "quit" or "exit" and MySQL client can be exited using
> "quit" and "exit" but for compatibility with psql, it also supports "\q" and
> "\quit".
>
> Postgres psql already support "\q" and "\quit" but I think that could be
> cool if it supports "exit" and "quit", talking to friends I saw that I am
> the only that sometimes try to exit psql with "exit'.

+1 from me. When I first used Postgres I struggled with how to quit
psql. I felt that making people look up how to quit the program is bad
UI design. I admired Postgres as a database, but had the impression
that it was harder to use than MySQL. Not being able to quit or
describe a table in the way I was used to was frustrating.

If anyone is unsure on this point, I'd recommend reading Joel
Spolsky's articles on UI design. He clearly explains how a program
model should match a user model. The fact that it's always been done
this way is irrelevant to new users, who want a db that is intuitive.