Re: Overhauling GUCS

On Jun 4, 2008, at 11:22, Tom Lane wrote:

> "David E. Wheeler" <david(at)kineticode(dot)com> writes:
>> Exactly. The issue is that application developers, who are not DBAs,
>> have no idea how to tune PostgreSQL, and postgresql.conf is daunting
>> and confusing. So they use a different database that's "faster".
>
> I take it you haven't looked at mysql's configuration file lately.

I'm not much into MySQL, but in the work I've done with it, I've had
to create /etc/my.cnf myself. There *is* no configuration file
configuring MySQL until that file is created, is there? So there is no
configuration to learn at first. I'm not saying that this is
necessarily admirable -- it's kind of the opposite end of the spectrum
(PostgreSQL: "Here is every configuration tweak you could ever
possibly want, have fun!" vs MySQL: "There is no configuration until
you need one, then you have to find the docs for it."

> They aren't actually in any better shape than we are, except that
> they supply several "preconfigured" sample files for people to choose
> from.

Which would be a good start, if nothing else…

Best,

David