Migrate MySQL... or not...

[CLIFFORD ILKAY]

On 21/08/09 05:17 PM, William Muriithi wrote:
> Clifford,
> 
> Please, I have NO attachment to either of the database, so do not take
> this as criticism.
>> I've written on the subject of MySQL vs. PostgreSQL on other lists. I'll
>> refer you to two examples.
>>
>> <http://omnis-dev.com/pipermail/omnisdev-en/2009-February/005142.html>
> This quote is from the above link.
> 
> If someone told me they wanted to use MySQL for a dinky web site with
> light traffic, I'd tell them, "If you insist, go ahead. It won't make
> much difference but, why bother if you have the choice?" Particularly if
> your dataset is so large and your queries so complex that it will tax
> *any* database and you don't have the resources of a Yahoo or a Google
> to co-develop MySQL, you should be looking at another database.
> 
> I find above quote contradicting. If you may allow me to paraphrase
> it, it essentially claim google and yahoo uses mysql just because they
> have resources. That does not sound convincing enough to me. Even with
> a lot of resources, I would expect them to choose use the better of
> the two as that would offer them a competitive advantage.

There is no contradiction. There are some organizations, like Yahoo,
that started using MySQL so long ago that they have a significant legacy
behind it and they have modified it so much that it would be difficult
for them to migrate to anything else. In effect, they have a custom
database that they maintain themselves. At the time when they started
using MySQL, who knows why they chose it? Perhaps it was long enough ago
that Postgres wasn't viable. Perhaps it was just a dumb choice for which
they continue to pay.
-- 
Regards,

Clifford Ilkay
Dinamis
1419-3266 Yonge St.
Toronto, ON
Canada  M4N 3P6

<http://dinamis.com>
+1 416-410-3326
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