Re: pgsql_fdw in contrib

On Mon, Jun 18, 2012 at 12:24 PM, Merlin Moncure <mmoncure(at)gmail(dot)com> wrote:
> I can't help but wonder (having been down the contrib/core/extension
> road myself) if it isn't better to improve the facilities to register
> and search for qualified extensions (like Perl CPAN) so that people
> looking for code to improve their backends can find it.  That way,
> you're free to release/do xyz/abandon your project as you see fit
> without having to go through -hackers.  This should also remove a lot
> of the stigma with not being in core since if stock postgres
> installations can access the necessary modules via CREATE EXTENSION, I
> think it will make it easier for projects like this to get used with
> the additional benefit of decentralizing project management.

Well, if you're the type that likes to install everything via RPMs
(and I am) then you wouldn't want this behavior, especially not
automagically. It seems to open up a host of security risks, too: I
believe Tom has previously stated that Red Hat (and other distro)
packaging guidelines forbid packages from installing software in
places where they can then turn around and run it. I suppose CPAN
must have some sort of exception to this policy, though, so maybe it's
not ironclad.

Still, it seems like a bit of a distraction in this case: I think we
want to have at least one FDW in core that actually talks to some
other database server, rather than just to a file, and it seems like
pgsql_fdw is the obvious choice by a mile.

--
Robert Haas
EnterpriseDB: http://www.enterprisedb.com
The Enterprise PostgreSQL Company