[ On Monday, January 12, 2004 at 23:40:00 (-0500), David Maxwell wrote: ]
> Subject: Re: PostgreSQL 7.4.1 anyone?
>
> Except that a given of pkgsrc, prior to pkgviews, is that the old server
> pkg must be deleted before installing the new one. If you type
> 'pkg_delete postgresql' - expecting to find the server intact and
> unscathed is delusional ;-)

Note pkgviews is irrelevant in this case (and always will be IMNSHO).

If pgsql had a more managable release management scheme inherently
supported by the maintainers then it would _never_ be the case that the
old package would conflict with the new package.  Every pathname would
include a version identifier and any number of pgsql releases could be
installed via pkgsrc at the same time.

Of course with the way PostgreSQL is normally installed (including by
pkgsrc) it's not too difficult to allow for simultaneous versions to
exist on the same system -- IIRC the difficulties lie more in how one
manages the data files for each instance, though that's usually only a
problem if you have gargantuan databases.  (this is where the pgsql
maintainers need to make a paradigm shift) (there's also the extremely
minor problem of the rc.d script, but assuming unique examples are
installed in share/examples/rc.d and some scheme of allowing separate
rcvar settings for each release is used, then that wouldn't be much of a
problem)

In any case this ability to run multiple releases in parallel on the
same system is such a critical requirement for any database software
that I'm stunned and dismayed that it's still not possible with the
pkgsrc module for PostgreSQL.

> In that context, Perhaps the approach should be a pre-delete script
> which says "These databases haven't been dumped to the standard place.
> (D)ump now, (U)ninstall without dumping (data will be inaccessible), or
> (A)bort procedure."

Interactive install/deinstall scripts are a bad thing.  :-)

-- 
						Greg A. Woods

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