Re: Proof of concept: standalone backend with full FE/BE protocol

On 11/20/13, 10:48 AM, Tom Lane wrote:
> Perhaps more to the point, I think this approach actually breaks one of
> the principal good-thing-in-emergencies attributes of standalone mode,
> namely being sure that nobody but you can connect.  With this, you're
> right back to having a race condition as to whether your psql command
> gets to the socket before somebody else.

I don't disagree, except maybe about the relative gravity of the various
competing concerns.  But I want to see if we can split the proposed
patch into smaller, more acceptable parts.

There is elegance in being able to start a standalone backend from libpq
connection parameters.  But there are also security concerns and some
general concerns about promoting an embedded database mode.

If we allow single-user backends to speak protocol over sockets, then we
have at least solved the problem of being able to use standard tools in
emergency mode.  And I don't think it precludes adding some of the other
functionality later.