postgres.org src build vs. enterprisedb installer

On Fri, Jan 18, 2008 at 01:28:38AM -0800, Jon Hancock wrote:

I am a fairly new user of postgres and am starting with the very
latest 8.3rc1.

I need to figure out the pros/cons of compiling from the source of
postgres.org or the install package from enterprisedb.

My production target is AMD64 on ubuntu 7.04.
My test and staging target is 32 bit ubuntu 7.04 on vmware.
My dev environment is OS X 10.5 - I am fine using enterprisedb's
installer for this.

I'm not sure whether it will work, but Debian has 8.3rc1 in
experimental precompiled on 13 architechtures...
http://packages.debian.org/experimental/postgresql-8.3

Have a nice day,
--
Martijn van Oosterhout <kleptog@svana.org> http://svana.org/kleptog/

On Fri, 18 Jan 2008 01:28:38 -0800 (PST)
Jon Hancock <redstarling@gmail.com> wrote:

I am a fairly new user of postgres and am starting with the very
latest 8.3rc1.

I need to figure out the pros/cons of compiling from the source of
postgres.org or the install package from enterprisedb.

You should only use native packages.

My production target is AMD64 on ubuntu 7.04.

Then why not apt-get install postgresql-8.2?

My test and staging target is 32 bit ubuntu 7.04 on vmware.

See above.

My dev environment is OS X 10.5 - I am fine using enterprisedb's
installer for this.

I would think that fink or macports or something would be more
appropriate.

I have not found a reputable ubuntu package for the latest 8.3 so I
suppose I'm left to compile from source if I don't go with
enterprisedb.

8.3 isn't out yet the only reputable source is the release candidate
packages which are for testing only. You can find them at
postgresql.org.

My needs are simple:
1 - I need full text search, This is the main reason I'm going
straight to 8.3 and not bothering with integrating it myself.

O.k. that is reasonable. You don't want to have to port twice. However
if you install rc1 be prepared to install rc2 very quickly and the
released version asap after that.

2 - basic stored procedures. I don't need the extended language
options. the native/default language for stored procedures is ok.

Which every version of PostgreSQL has had for as long as I can remember.

3 - don't need things like replication or partitioning or oracle
compatibility.

EnterpriseDB Postgres doesn't have oracle compatibility. That is there
Advanced Server product.

4 - I do want a good install structure and decent compile options that
suites my target production platform (AMD64 on ubuntu 7.04).

Then I suggest you use what the debian packager provides you. Check
backports.

Sincerely,

Joshua D. Drake

On Fri, 18 Jan 2008, Jon Hancock wrote:

I am a fairly new user of postgres and am starting with the very latest
8.3rc1. I need to figure out the pros/cons of compiling from the source
of postgres.org or the install package from enterprisedb.

If you like their packaging, by all means use it to make your life easier,
but recognize that particularly with the mix of platforms you're using at
some point you'll have to come to grips with installing from source. 8.3
is just too new to escape from that. At some point, I predict you'll run
into a problem where you're told "oh, we fixed that in CVS HEAD, use that
version", and it may be longer than you want to wait before that gets
packaged. I would suggest you should even bite doing the OS X install
from source because what you learn will be valuable to you for planning
the development->production task you have coming.

Installing a private PostgreSQL for a single user (rather than in the
system areas like /usr/bin) may even be a useful practice for you to
consider, for development in particular where you may even want to have
more than one version going at once. There is an example of that at
http://developer.postgresql.org/index.php/Working_with_CVS in the first
two sections of "Full repository via rsync, local changes in checkout
area".

Also, as someone already mentioned, you will be forced at some point to
trash whatever database install you do with 8.3rc1. It is a beta and
there's already a known issue that will cause later 8.3 releases to use a
different internal database format, so you'll have to dump/reload your
data and rebuild the whole install at some point.

I have not found a reputable ubuntu package for the latest 8.3 so I
suppose I'm left to compile from source if I don't go with
enterprisedb.

They may be out before you need to go into production, I'm not aware of
any Debian/Ubuntu packagers that are real concerned with supporting
PostgreSQL betas. I note with some amusement that a Google search on
"postgresql 8.3 ubuntu package" returns an archive of your question as the
first hit right now. They may not ever be packaged by some "reputable"
for 7.04 though.

I was able to make my own packages for 8.2 once upon a time following the
outline at http://www.debian-administration.org/articles/373 but this
requires a level of familiarity with their packaging system you may not
want to acquire, and I borrowed the shell of another 8.2 packaging some
Debian expert had already done; not sure if there's such a model for 8.3
available yet. The same amount of time put into building from source
would be more productive for you to get started. The packaging
requirements for your production system may require you to build your own
packages eventually, all the more reason to get familiar with doing your
own builds.

--
* Greg Smith gsmith@gregsmith.com http://www.gregsmith.com Baltimore, MD

Greg Smith <gsmith@gregsmith.com> writes:

Also, as someone already mentioned, you will be forced at some point to
trash whatever database install you do with 8.3rc1. It is a beta and
there's already a known issue that will cause later 8.3 releases to use a
different internal database format,

Uh ... known to whom?

regards, tom lane

On Sun, 20 Jan 2008, Tom Lane wrote:

Greg Smith <gsmith@gregsmith.com> writes:

It is a beta and
there's already a known issue that will cause later 8.3 releases to use a
different internal database format,

Uh ... known to whom?

I thought there was a catalog rev bump in RC2 that was going to force a
dump/reload. If there isn't, my bad.

--
* Greg Smith gsmith@gregsmith.com http://www.gregsmith.com Baltimore, MD

On Fri, 18 Jan 2008, Jon Hancock wrote:

I have not found a reputable ubuntu package for the latest 8.3

This just in on another thread:

http://packages.debian.org/sid/postgresql

You should be able to use that source package to build your own Ubuntu
dpkg via something like the suggestions at
http://www.debian-administration.org/articles/373

--
* Greg Smith gsmith@gregsmith.com http://www.gregsmith.com Baltimore, MD