Re: MySQL vs PostgreSQL.

Jeff Davis <list-pgsql-hackers@empires.org>

From: Jeff Davis <list-pgsql-hackers@empires.org>
To: "scott.marlowe" <scott.marlowe@ihs.com>
Cc: PostgreSQL-development <pgsql-hackers@postgresql.org>
Date: 2002-10-12T02:08:18Z
Lists: pgsql-hackers, pgsql-general
>
> I still remember a post from somebody on the phpbuilder site that had
> changed a field from varchar to date and all the dates he had got changed
> to 0000-00-00.
>
> He most unimpressed, especially since he (being typical of a lot of MySQL
> users) didn't have a backup.
>

Ah, yes. Classic.

I was talking about a development scenario. Anyone who changes a huge amount 
of important data to a new form without a clearly defined algorithm is not 
making a wise choice. That's kind of like if you have a perl script operating 
on an important file: you don't want it to just kill all your data, so you do 
a few tests first.

And it really is a minor matter of convenience. I end up dropping and 
recreating all my tables a lot in the early stages of development, which is 
mildly annoying. Certainly not as bad, I suppose, as if you're led to believe 
that a feature does something safely, and it kills all your data.

So, you're right. It's probably better that it's never implemented.

Regards,
	Jeff