Subject: Re: PostgreSQL 7.4.1 anyone?
To: NetBSD Packages Technical Discussion List <tech-pkg@NetBSD.ORG>
From: Greg A. Woods <woods@weird.com>
List: tech-pkg
Date: 01/13/2004 02:31:19
[ On Monday, January 12, 2004 at 20:48:23 (-0500), James K. Lowden wrote: ]
> Subject: Re: PostgreSQL 7.4.1 anyone?
>
> You are not talking like a DBA. 
> You are certainly not talking like a DBA who's responsible for a
> production database.  
> You are absolutely, positively not talking like a DBA responsible for a
> production database with 10 GB of valuable data that is both widely used
> and highly visible in the firm.  

Yes, but, rhetorically speaking, what are the DBA and SysAdmin together
supposed to do when the only option is to erase the existing software
and install new software in its place?

>   But IMHO the only responsible path open to pkgsrc for
> RDBMSs is to install the next version side-by-side with the old.  The DBA
> will load the new database; the users will test it; it will go online. 
> Then, after some days or weeks, the old one will be decommissioned.  

Unless things have improved significantly since pgsql 7.2 or so then
that's simply not possible, at least not given the way pkgsrc currently
installs the software.  I'd love to see proof otherwise, but I'm not
holding my breath.

-- 
						Greg A. Woods

+1 416 218-0098                  VE3TCP            RoboHack <woods@robohack.ca>
Planix, Inc. <woods@planix.com>          Secrets of the Weird <woods@weird.com>