Re: [SQL] postgreSQL vs mySQL

On Tue, Mar 07, 2000 at 11:38:17AM -0500, Mitch Vincent allegedly wrote:
> IMHO MySQL is faster but much less feature rich. I do development for both
> and they both have their uses. I use MySQL when I just "plug and pull"
> meaning that it's just a quick way to store random information. For real
> applications though I like to use PostgreSQL because it supports lots of
> very nice features like transactions!
> 
> And , of course, MySQL isn't free -- PostgreSQL is.

Yes it is. You only need a license for the Windows version and there are
good reasons for that. It is true that the company developing MySQL really
appreciates people buying licenses, just as the PostgreSQL teams appreciates
donations.

> I think that in 7.0 some of the speed issues of Postgre will be greatly
> improved (which is it's only real weak point and it's just slow in
> comparision with much less feature rich backends)..

PostgreSQL 6.3 was rather unstable (IMHO), but I haven't had stability
problems with 6.5 yet.

PostgreSQL and MySQL both have their uses (and these overlap for a large
part), but you do reach a point where both don't cut it anymore and you
need to 'upgrade' to something like DB2 or Oracle. And that's when you
really start longing for a database that lets you do what you want to do,
without all that overhead. ;)

One of the reasons I really like PostgreSQL and MySQL is the fact that
distance between the developers and users is really small. Also, reading
the mailinglists (especially the PostgreSQL list) you discover that the
developers aren't super-human after all. Also, discussions impacting the
future of PostgreSQL are done on the list, so you can have a lot of
influence on the development of PostgreSQL.

Personally I like PostgreSQL better than MySQL, but MySQL scales better
and is easier to use in a threaded environment. However, when it comes
to features, MySQL is no match for PostgreSQL...

Enough BS,

Mathijs