Re: pg_dumpall reccomendation in release notes

Josh Berkus <josh@agliodbs.com> writes:
> On 02/25/2014 03:41 PM, Tom Lane wrote:
>> There's a very good reason for not recommending pg_dump in this context:
>> it won't dump everything.  Yeah, if you know what you're doing, you might
>> use per-database pg_dump runs plus pg_dumpall -g to catch the roles etc,
>> but we're not going to try to wedge all that info into one or two
>> sentences of release-note boilerplate.  If you can get that right then
>> you don't need the release notes to remind you anyway.  If you aren't
>> likely to get it right then the release notes would do you no service
>> by suggesting it.

> Right. But the fact that we don't mention it *at all* has caused some
> users to ask me if regular pg_dump doesn't work for upgrades anymore.

TBH, anybody who's asking that kind of question probably falls in the
category of "wouldn't get it right".  I've heard enough bitching from
novices who thought that pg_dump would be enough to get everything out
of their now-gone database that I have no desire to encourage use of
bare pg_dump here.

(Whether we shouldn't redesign the functionality of these programs
is a different discussion.  The release notes have to reflect what is,
though, not what might ideally be.)

> It does make me wonder if we should direct users to the upgrade page
> though, instead of the individual command pages.

If we had a page discussing the pros and cons of different upgrade
methods, yeah, I'd be in favor of reducing the release-note text to a
pointer to that page.  I don't see such a page in a quick skim of the
fine manual's table of contents though?
        regards, tom lane