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	Thu, 28 Nov 2019 11:11:44 -0500
From: Tom Lane <tgl@sss.pgh.pa.us>
To: Peter Eisentraut <peter.eisentraut@2ndquadrant.com>
cc: Michael Paquier <michael@paquier.xyz>,
        Alvaro Herrera <alvherre@2ndquadrant.com>,
        pgsql-hackers <pgsql-hackers@postgresql.org>
Subject: Re: allow_system_table_mods stuff
In-reply-to: <f48637b7-ab24-e48b-0b30-519b1170e65c@2ndquadrant.com>
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Comments: In-reply-to Peter Eisentraut <peter.eisentraut@2ndquadrant.com>
	message dated "Wed, 27 Nov 2019 17:01:49 +0100"
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Peter Eisentraut <peter.eisentraut@2ndquadrant.com> writes:
> On 2019-11-27 09:26, Michael Paquier wrote:
>> Peter, are you planning to look at that again?  Note: the patch has no
>> reviewers registered.

> Here is an updated patch series.

> After re-reading the discussion again, I have kept the existing name of 
> the option.  I have also moved the tests to the "unsafe_tests" suite, 
> which seems like a better place.  And I have split the patch into three.

Personally I'd have gone with the renaming to allow_system_table_ddl,
but it's not a huge point.  Updating the code to agree with that
naming would make the patch much more invasive, so maybe it's not
worth it.

> Other than those cosmetic changes, I think everything here has been 
> discussed and agreed to, so unless anyone expresses any concern or a 
> wish to do more review, I think this is ready to commit.

I read through the patch set and have just one quibble: in the
proposed new docs,

+        Allows modification of the structure of system tables as well as
+        certain other risky actions on system tables.  This is otherwise not
+        allowed even for superusers.  This is used by
+        <command>initdb</command>.  Inconsiderate use of this setting can
+        cause irretrievable data loss or seriously corrupt the database
+        system.  Only superusers can change this setting.

"Inconsiderate" doesn't seem like le mot juste.  Maybe "Ill-advised"?

(I'm also wondering whether the sentence about initdb is worth keeping.)

I marked the CF entry RFC.

			regards, tom lane