> 1. A lot more people know MySQL and thus can be hired, and in theory be
> immediately productive.
> 2. MySQL people are cheaper. On average from the people I talk to 30-40%
> cheaper than a qualified PostgreSQL DBA.
My response: if you are an A/V production company wanting to buy new
equipment, do you go to Wal*Mart and buy the $999 Plasma TV Special, or do
you go to an A/V supply house and buy a good, commercial-quality unit for
$2400?
I know I'm preaching to the choir, but consider: is your 40% cheaper MySQL
admin going to know how to secure your data properly so you don't loose a
few bits here and there? If your data is only ancillary to your business
- like if you're a plumber and connecting pipes is your thing - them MySQL
might be OK, and your 40% cheaper admin would fit the bill.
If, however, you depend on your data, then it's worth paying for someone
who knows their salt.
On a somewhat related topic - how is MySQL 5 wrt reliability? Let's say
you have a database that uses innodb and does type checking - is MySQL as
robust as PGSQL when it comes to being able to pull the plug out of the
socket (or deal with HW errors)?
Cheers,
-J