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Interview with Josh Berkus of PostgreSQL

Posted by timothy on from the that-bird-is-certainly-peeved dept.

SilentBob4 writes "The PostgreSQL database project has recently released Version 8.0, which was received with quite some fanfare, mostly due to its first-ever Windows port. Mad Penguin talked with Josh Berkus, one of the core team members, to find out how 8.0 has fared since its official release on January 17, 2005. Full interview."

8 of 41 comments (clear)

  1. Ever since I ran into unicode ... Pgsql has rocked by Gopal.V · · Score: 3, Informative
    Being an Indian and all that, I'm very much concerned about unicode sorting/collation kind of thing. Postgres has the best unicode support I've ever seen.

    Ever since I started using transactions in pgsql, I haven't looked back to mysql land. All I now need is the Postgres-R (replication) stuff to work out of the box (like it does for mysql). I don't know if transaction speeds might be hit by replication or not.

    Also great win32 installer - thank god the pgsql jdbc components aren't GPL. (it's a thin edge of the wedge to get it used for in house projects).
    --
    Quidquid latine dictum sit, altum videtur
  2. Re:Ever since I ran into unicode ... Pgsql has roc by rtaylor · · Score: 4, Informative

    All I now need is the Postgres-R (replication) stuff to work out of the box (like it does for mysql).

    Look into Slony. It's an addon project, but replication for PostgreSQL will always be an addon so that it works across multiple backend versions.

    It's fairly straight forward to setup a master/slave scenario, and PgAdmin is currently working on GUI tools for managing it.

    --
    Rod Taylor
  3. Re:Ever since I ran into unicode ... Pgsql has roc by nosferatu-man · · Score: 3, Informative

    All I now need is the Postgres-R (replication) stuff to work out of the box (like it does for mysql).

    Don't bother with Postgres-R -- use Slony. It works fantastically well.

    --
    To spur "enterprise Linux," Big Bang, the distributed two-phase commit.
  4. First Windows port? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative

    mostly due to its first-ever Windows port.

    No, PostgreSQL has been working on Windows for years. This was just the first version where Windows was an officially supported platform.

    1. Re:First Windows port? by Red+Pointy+Tail · · Score: 2, Informative

      Actually, PostgreSQL has always been officially available for Windows, but before V8.0 it runs under Cygwin, so performance sucks. Version 8.0 is re-written (I assume, with an OS abstraction) so that on it calls Win32 directly instead of through Cygwin.

      Whether the former constitutes a 'Windows port' or not is semantics.

    2. Re:First Windows port? by Khazunga · · Score: 2, Informative

      Nope. during version 7 there were unofficial builds of pgsql for windows that ran without need for Cygwin.

      --
      If at first you don't succeed, skydiving is not for you
  5. Re:It sure feels like a "First Windows port" by Red+Pointy+Tail · · Score: 3, Informative

    The PostgreSQL 8.0 for windows installation process was very difficult and ultimately unsuccessful.

    You got to be kidding right? There is a packaged Windows installer for 8.0.1, and as database installer goes, this got to be one of the most no-brainers around. It even installs the documentation, pgAdminIII and the necessary ODBC and OLE-DB drivers.

  6. Re:Fatal Flaws by Red+Pointy+Tail · · Score: 3, Informative

    Read from the horse's mouth: see section 2.6. I don't know about you but I think it is a pretty big flaw if a database cannot support Unicode. Note that I meant only the Win32 port - UTF-8 works fine in other ports.