Re: Which database?

Dear Kaarel,

> I am fairly new to databases, but my boss has assigned me to choose a
> database system for our company.

If you are learning databases (for example if you do not know the difference
between a table and a view), you may choose solutions like MySQL or MS
Access. Personnaly, I have been using MySQL during 3 months when learning SQL
and then I switched to PostgreSQL because of MySQL inability to parse complex
queries and its poor ODBC interface.

On the converse, if you are looking for a comprehensive business-oriented
solution, you may consider using a bundle of PostgreSQL database server,
pgAdmin3 graphical interface and PhpPgAdmin 3.0 web interface.

Downloading and testing is easy:

- PostgreSQL 7.3.2 : ftp://ftp.postgresql.org/pub/binary/v7.3.3/RPMS
- pgAdmin3 snapshots (Win32 and GNU/Linux GUI) : http://snake.pgadmin.org
- PhpPgAdmin 3.0 RC-1: http://phppgadmin.sourceforge.net/

Also, PostgreSQL is well documented:
- http://www.postgresql.org/docs/view.php?version=7.3&idoc=1&file=index.html
- http://techdocs.postgresql.org/

Many projects are centralized at GBorg - http://gborg.postgresql.org

Don't look for complicated things: PostgreSQL main advantage is to answer
***all*** your needs at once, even the most advanced ones (views, triggers,
server-side languages, multi-byte support, etc...).

Cheers,
Jean-Michel