Re: BUG #7820: Extension uuid-ossp cannot be installed on Windows - getting syntax error

On Tue, Jan 22, 2013 at 10:26 AM, Tom Lane <tgl@sss.pgh.pa.us> wrote:
> Heikki Linnakangas <hlinnakangas@vmware.com> writes:
>> On 22.01.2013 15:31, Jan-Peter.Seifert@gmx.de wrote:
>> Try:
>> CREATE EXTENSION "uuid-ossp"
>
> Although this isn't a bug, it does seem like a usability fail.
> Did we make a conscious decision not to call the extension uuid_ossp?
> I can't remember one way or the other.  It's probably too late to change
> now, though :-(

I sort of have good recollection of the history here, I think, because
people have asked me about it quite a few times....  uuid-ossp.sql,
pre CREATE EXTENSION was always named as such, so carrying forward the
most obvious port to CREATE EXTENSION results in a non-SQL safe
identifier.  Pre CREATE EXTENSION it didn't seem obvious that it would
matter how the extension would be named, as long as it looked okay in
psql -f or psql \i, which it did.

Considering the history, most people seem to understand how things
ended up in this way, although it's still a little annoying, and
definitely confusing.

--
fdr