PostgreSQL 8.4 Out 191
TheFuzzy writes "PostgreSQL version 8.4 is now out and available for download. The main cool features in this version are: recursive queries (for doing trees etc.), windowing functions (for doing reports) column-level permissions, parallel database restore, a beta in-place upgrade tool, and a host of administrative improvements. And, of course, better performance, mainly on reporting queries. Some of the over 200 new or enhanced features are listed here."
Re:So why (Score:5, Insightful)
Honestly, the more rabid and on-the-offense a community gets, the more a am suspicious of the product.
First, the only on-the-offense part was a list of new high-end features. Second, it's pretty easy to become rabid when you try to tell people about your quad-turbo Ferrari dumptruck that does 0-60 in 4 seconds fully loaded and pulls 1.5g on the skidpad while getting 137 miles per gallon, but keep getting shouted down by Kia Fanbois who make fun of every feature your truck has that they don't - until they get a half-assed version of it and then act smug like they invented it.
PostgreSQL fans have nothing on rabid MySQL fans, I promise you.
Re:So why (Score:4, Insightful)
It's pretty much spot on though. When a new feature comes out for MySQL, the fanatics love to shove it in your face, even if the real RDBMS have had it for years.
PostgreSQL does everything mySQL does, but better. I would have thought great unicode support alone would be enough to sway the mySQL believers but I was wrong. Now I don't even debate the issue unless I'm sure I am even talking to a reasonable human. The whole mySQL vs. PostgreSQL debate usually descends into the mud quickly with neither side listening to the other.
I'll stick with PostgreSQL, thank you very much.
Re:So why (Score:3, Insightful)
Well I did say that once he learnt PostgreSQL, he'd probably find that MySQL no longer met his needs simply because he realised what more was possible.
By the sounds of his other posts, he's not doing much more than using databases for a bit of data persistence for websites, in which case, admirer of PostgreSQL that I am, he's still probably right that MySQL meets his needs. It would open more doors for him if he knew PostgreSQL, of course. But equally he could be learning Python, perfecting his golf or playing with his kids. PostgreSQL is quite frankly, great. But he who fights fanboys must be careful, lest he himself becometh a fan boy.
PostgreSQL's feature list and reputation speak for itself. I prefer to evangelise gently.