Re: ALTER SYSTEM SET command to change postgresql.conf parameters (RE: Proposal for Allow postgresql.conf values to be changed via SQL [review])

On Fri, Aug 30, 2013 at 8:53 AM, Stephen Frost <sfrost@snowman.net> wrote:
> Yes, one of the issues with the existing system is that you can't
> specify a default to be applied to new roles.  Also, there are
> parameters which are not per-role yet which it probably makes sense to
> be in the database and we'd need a way to deal with that.  Although, at
> the same time, considering it role based does make for a nice
> distinction.  Unfortunately, those clammoring for this will argue that
> it wouldn't replace adminpack and that they couldn't use it to modify
> their /etc/network/interfaces file, which is the obvious next step to
> all of this.

This is a straw-man.  adminpack doesn't allow reading or writing files
outside of the configured data and log directories, as a security
precaution.  But suppose it did.  If your permissions on
/etc/network/interfaces allow the postgres user to modify it, then you
pretty much deserve exactly what you get.  Likening this to the
feature being proposed is silly.  What is being asked for here is the
ability to easily modify system-wide settings from the SQL prompt,
just as today you can modify settings per-user or per-database.
That's not the same thing as rewriting the entire system
configuration.

-- 
Robert Haas
EnterpriseDB: http://www.enterprisedb.com
The Enterprise PostgreSQL Company