[development] So why we do support postgresql?

[Chris Johnson]

Here is the blunt fact that too many people in this discussion keep ignoring:

The claim is that we lose Postgres maintainers over and over.  The
claim is we don't have enough Postgres testing.  And so forth and so
on.

The precise reason we don't have those things is because we really
don't support Postgres.


I myself do not run Postgres precisely because we don't support it.
If we supported it, I would run it all the time and would test it and
submit patches for it.

But why should I waste extra time trying to do that if there is no
push to make others write Postgres compatible code?  It's like
spitting into the wind, going against the tide, sailing upwind --
however you want to put it.

It's a Catch 22, or a chicken and egg problem.

If we don't "require" Postgres support by developers, most of them
won't support it.  As a result, every person who makes a choice about
which database to use will be highly likely to choose MySQL because it
is better supported.  Then we have what we have now -- a
self-reinforcing feedback loop that continues to encourage MySQL-only
support.  It's a self-fulfilling prophecy.

We can choose to change this, or not.  The only other way it changes
is in the broader community:  Sun ruins MySQL and everybody in the
world outside of Drupal starts using Postgres instead.  Then Drupal
developers will start writing Postgres code because of outside
influence.

Either we support multiple databases, or we don't.  And we get to choose.

And hopefully I will remember long enough that I said this, and won't
dip into this debate again.  ;-)