Re: [COMMITTERS] pgsql-server/src backend/tcop/postgres.cbacke

"Marc G. Fournier" <scrappy(at)hub(dot)org> writes:
> One thought at the back of my mind is why not have something like a
> 'PG_VERSION' for XLOG? Maybe something so simple as a text file in both
> the data and xlog directory that just contains a timestamp from the
> initdb? then, when you startup postmaster with a -X option, it compares
> the two files and makes sure that they belong to each other?

While that isn't a bad idea, it seems to me that it's adding mechanism
to get around a problem that we don't need to have in the first place.
The only reason this risk exists is that the patch changes a monolithic
postmaster option (-D) into two independent options (-D/-X) that in
reality should never be independent.

Essentially, you're proposing Kevlar shoes as a solution for the problem
that you want to walk around carrying a loaded gun aimed at your foot.
The shoes might be a good idea anyway, but the primary problem is
elsewhere...

regards, tom lane