Date: Thu, 30 Aug 2012 23:52:54 -0400
From: Bruce Momjian <bruce@momjian.us>
To: Magnus Hagander <magnus@hagander.net>
Cc: Peter Eisentraut <peter_e@gmx.net>, Josh Kupershmidt <schmiddy@gmail.com>,
	Greg Smith <greg@2ndquadrant.com>,
	Euler Taveira de Oliveira <euler@timbira.com>, pgsql-docs@postgresql.org
Subject: Re: somewhat wrong archive_command example
Message-ID: <20120831035254.GK32350@momjian.us>
References: 
 <CAK3UJRHChOcGQ0kzu01wZX6PB9pScHSzg1X+hThdR7QXWoe1yw@mail.gmail.com>
	<20120816011347.GF8353@momjian.us> <502EA0D0.10004@gmx.net>
	<20120825230755.GE10814@momjian.us>
	<20120825234026.GG10814@momjian.us>
	<1346039025.5873.16.camel@vanquo.pezone.net>
	<20120827134641.GD11088@momjian.us>
	<1346291848.17422.11.camel@vanquo.pezone.net>
	<CABUevEzBGJoVM5PG7U6A2XJa2u71BJh6+MjR4jC8geM=qHC3dQ@mail.gmail.com>
	<20120830131101.GK8753@momjian.us>
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On Thu, Aug 30, 2012 at 09:11:01AM -0400, Bruce Momjian wrote:
> On Thu, Aug 30, 2012 at 11:15:30AM +0200, Magnus Hagander wrote:
> > On Thu, Aug 30, 2012 at 3:57 AM, Peter Eisentraut <peter_e@gmx.net> wrote:
> > > On Mon, 2012-08-27 at 09:46 -0400, Bruce Momjian wrote:
> > >> I thought the idea was just to show what a shell script might look like
> > >> --- we could say it does the same as a single-line copy, but then people
> > >> could improve it, or we could add a comment to show how people could
> > >> improve it.
> > >
> > > Why can't we provide the improved version to begin with, if we know it
> > > needs improvement?  I think we don't really know what it should look
> > > like, do we?
> > 
> > +1.
> > 
> > 
> > >> > I think what we should do is write a wrapper program in C that covers
> > >> > all the bases, support all platforms, and supports a handful of the most
> > >> > commonly used copy methods (cp, scp, etc. + compression).  Then everyone
> > >> > can just use that and doesn't have to figure all these things out from
> > >> > scratch every time.
> > >>
> > >> I doubt it would work because people like the flexibility of shell
> > >> scripts.
> > >
> > > Well, we thought that about the base backup, but now we have
> > > pg_basebackup, which supports two output methods that should cover most
> > > cases.  If we could provide an archive command that has two or three
> > > methods, that could also cover most uses.  Of course, in either case you
> > > are free to write your own script.
> > 
> > I would say the majority of people *don't* like the flexibility of
> > shellscripts. They want something simple to use. pg_receivexlog on 9.2
> > is going to help some of them (as a completement to pg_basebackup).
> > But also shipping something to use for archive_command that just
> > copies the files in a proper way would definitely help for usability.
> > 
> > As long as we keep the write-your-own-script-however-you-like method,
> > just like we did for pg_basebackup, doing this can only be an
> > improvement. And I don't see anybody suggesting we *remove* this
> > capability.
> 
> The original idea for the shell script was just to show people an
> example of what it might look like --- not to try to fix or change our
> recommended behavior.  If there is no interest in showing an example, we
> can just close this thread.

Patch withdrawn.

-- 
  Bruce Momjian  <bruce@momjian.us>        http://momjian.us
  EnterpriseDB                             http://enterprisedb.com

  + It's impossible for everything to be true. +