> Putting on my hat as a sysadmin at a web hoster, when we have a request > for PHP and database, most folks want mysql. This is probably because > there is a preponderance of books and examples that use the mysql_* > functions in PHP. That means the code cannot be easily switched over to > postgres (or any other DBMS for that matter). >
I'm in partial disagreement on this. It's fairly easy to switch between mysql_* and pgsql_* in php for anyone but a novice programmer. I will say MySQL definitely has more exposure, perhaps because it's more cross-platform [I think?] > From a business perspective, it is not economical to spend the manhours > maintaining two software packages that solve the same problem. So based > on the demand (from folks that ask for something specifically), we chose > mysql. Also, at the time we made that choice, mysql was considerably > easier to maintain and didn't require offlining databases regularly to > vacuum them so that the query optimizer worked properly. Admittedly, > this was some time ago and things have changed quite a bit since then. > However, we now have mysql deployed and understood so it doesn't make > sense to change. > Absolutely. Unfortunately you can't please everyone. Having dealings with your company in the past was nothing but a good experience. Yours was the first site I checked. > Note that this is not intended as a commentary on the relative merits of > mysql over postgres. Mysql has its own set of problems. Still speaking > wearing my sysadmin hat, I have no problem with postgres. It's just that > until we have a clear case of demand for it, it doesn't make sense to > spend our time maintaining yet another software package. > Hopefully this is the first of many requests. > And, finally, one last data point. Most sites don't come anywhere near > requiring the advanced features of any dbms. For the vast majority of > sites, any dbms will do the job. Mysql, postgres, sybase, etc., will all > work sufficiently for most sites. As a result, there's no compelling > technological reason (for *most* sites) to choose one over the other. > Thus, the preponderance of documentation and examples wins out. I am expecting this site to eventually need dedicated hosting. It may be a while off, but I know the guy I'm doing it for has a huge marketing plan in place already. Nick _______________________________________________ clug-talk mailing list [email protected] http://clug.ca/mailman/listinfo/clug-talk_clug.ca Mailing List Guidelines (http://clug.ca/ml_guidelines.php) **Please remove these lines when replying
