Re: Time to scale up?

[Thomas Hallgren <thomas(at)tada(dot)se>]

Peter Eisentraut wrote:
> I don't think trust or scaling or implementation languages are the real issue.  
> It has been established that for a variety of reasons, smalls tools that can 
> be combined work better than one big tool.  That is why the Linux kernel does 
> not contain a windowing system.
>
>   
I fully agree with this and I'm not suggesting that we create one big tool.


> The issue you are facing is an issue of perception.
Yes, but that's only one part of it.


>   There are a number of 
> ways to fix that, only one of which is including PL/Java into the PostgreSQL 
> source distribution.  I was on the other side of the debate when we kicked 
> out the JDBC driver, but today I think this was the best thing that could 
> have happened, to both sides.
Separate source distributions and delegated responsibilities must be 
maintained. I'm a big fan of those. I'm arguing that you can keep them 
and still benefit from a more elaborated core organization.


>   If you see any measures that we could take to 
> make PL/Java look as good in the public eye as the JDBC driver -- certainly 
> that is a reasonable comparison -- then I'm sure we can address them.
>
>   

We could achieve a number of pros that doesn't relate to perception:

- Far better synergies and incentive to create a coherent portfolio
- More elaborated build farm support
- Common, configurable documentation
- Shared server infrastructure

But perception is of course extremely important. I think that mature and 
stable add-on modules that have an established user-base should be 
visible as part of PostgreSQL. They should be represented on the 
PostgreSQL main web-site and not as links to PgFoundry, Gborg, 
Codehause, Sourceforge, and what have you. Important things that relate 
to perception is:

- Web site outlook. Seamless navigation between core and add-ons.
- Maintainer. Core or third-party?
- Packaging. Part of core or bundled by commercial or other vendor?
- Status. Stable? Released? (who claims it's stable?)
- Mailing lists. Is it xxx(at)postgresql(dot)org or something else?

Take a look at the 9 bullets above. Now, given the current organization, 
consider the impact of adding versus rejecting an add-on module. I'm 
still convinced that the only solution to that dilemma is to change the 
organization.

Kind Regards,
Thomas Hallgren