Обсуждение: Maybe off-topic: Why MySQL so popular? (or why PostgreSQL so un-popular?)

I know this is not a forum about advocacy, but I 
thought I'd ask here, as I'm sure you'll be able 
to ellaborate on the subject. 

After being forced to use MySQL for a while, I'm 
extremely irritated, and intrigued with the fact 
that being such a crap as it is, MySQL has become 
*the* standard database for Linux/Unix based web 
servers.

For heaven's sake, PostgreSQL ships with RedHat 
(which I think is the most widely used Linux 
distribution for web hosters), and MySQL does 
not (well, now it does ship with RH 7.1, but 
I think it didn't before);  PG is much more 
solid, it is much more ANSI-SQL compliant -- 
MySQL does not support transactions, does not 
feature referential integrity -- and they have 
the face to mention the lack of R.I. as a good 
thing!!! , MySQL does not support views, sub-
queries...  I get the feeling that MySQL is 
just a thin layer on top of C's FILE * or 
C++'s file streams!!!

If you tell me:  nobody is forcing you to use 
MySQL -- the Linux and Open Source world is 
about choice....  Wrong!  (in this case).  I 
haven't been able to find a web hoster (decent 
or not) that offers PostgreSQL among their 
services (now, if we add the extra restriction 
of *decent* web hosters, go figure...  Though 
you could say that the very fact that they 
offer PG would make them decent web hosters? :-)). 

I even tried the search engine at www.webhosters.com, 
and they don't even have a checkbox for PostgreSQL 
in the search criteria!!! 

I'm so frustrated!!  Could somebody tell me at 
least a reason for which MySQL could have become 
so popular?  Maybe knowing that there is a 
concrete reason will help me alleviate this 
deep feeling of irritation...  :-( 

Of course, alternate solutions are also acceptable 
(i.e., pointers to web hosters that offer PgSQL 
along with a good package and good quality of 
services?  :-))

Cheers,

Carlos
--

Carlos Moreno <moreno@mochima.com> writes:
> I'm so frustrated!!  Could somebody tell me at 
> least a reason for which MySQL could have become 
> so popular?  Maybe knowing that there is a 
> concrete reason will help me alleviate this 
> deep feeling of irritation...  :-( 

It's a historical thing, I think.  Three or four years ago, when it
first occurred to people that making database-backed websites would be a
Good Idea, MySQL probably *was* the better choice.  Postgres had a lot
of features, but it was still basically an academic research system:
it had lots of bugs too, and performance wasn't very good.  So most of
the early work on database-backed websites gravitated to MySQL.

Since then, we've come a long way in improving stability and
performance, but we still have to play catchup in the mindshare
department.  Especially among people who are mostly tuned into
web development.
        regards, tom lane