Re: Fwd: MySQL vs postgres

[awilliam@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]

> Adam covered the difference very well except for two things:
> 1. PostgreSQL is open-source.  MySQL is not, except older versions.
> (MySQL is free-as-in-beer for most applications.)
> 2. MySQL is much, much faster than PostgreSQL.  If you are writing an
> application that requires heavy database usage, and it can work
> without the many features MySQL still lacks (often you can), you can
> save a great deal of money that would otherwise be spent on RAM,
> RAID hard drives, and multiple CPUs!

For single user or predominately search applications MySQL is
adequate, it's really a right tool for the right job issue.  Much of
the reported performance diffrence between MySQL and PostgreSQL is due
to the fact that PostgreSQL ships in many distributions without the
correct optimizations (such as the mentioned -F parameter).  Also the 
new 7.x series is significantly faster than the 6.x series.  But for
brute force operations something like MySQL is probably faster than
PostgreSQL or even something like Informix, simply due to lower 
overhead.

There's a level headed article at:

http://www.zdnet.com/enterprise/stories/linux/news/0,6423,2436155,00.
html

Note that the -F parameter defaulting to off gives greater reliability 
as data goes to the disk quicker and isn't as likely to be in RAM if 
the system suddenly crashes.  But it also limits performance because 
you can't take advantage of write caching.  It is a trade off.