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From: Jonathan S. Katz <[email protected]>
To: Karl O. Pinc <[email protected]>
Cc: Benjamin Scherrey <[email protected]>
Cc: [email protected]
Cc: Vik Fearing <[email protected]>
Cc: Bruce Momjian <[email protected]>
Cc: Tom Lane <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: Describing Postgres as "object-relational" on the home page
Date: Sun, 31 Dec 2023 14:40:49 -0500
Message-ID: <[email protected]> (raw)
In-Reply-To: <[email protected]>
References: <[email protected]>
	<CACo3ShjP=OcV=HsKEQuMFkAL2Z0E20==pUjKbhUd1keH20qQ0w@mail.gmail.com>
	<[email protected]>
	<[email protected]>
	<[email protected]>

On 12/31/23 12:40 PM, Karl O. Pinc wrote:
> On Sun, 31 Dec 2023 10:42:11 -0500
> "Jonathan S. Katz" <[email protected]> wrote:
> 
>> I think it's a good idea to talk about the types of
>> functionality/workloads PostgreSQL can support, whether in core or
>> extensions (geospatial, time series, vector/AI/pick-the-buzzword,
>> distributed, etc.), and perhaps the starting point is adding that
>> language that suggests that. We can then link to the wiki, perhaps
>> make a "List of Extensions" page that's similar to "List of
>> Drivers"[4] (which [4] is now linked to from the docs) that
>> categorizes them. [5] has a nice starting point on the aggregation of
>> what's out there.
> 
>> [5] https://gist.github.com/joelonsql/e5aa27f8cc9bd22b8999b7de8aee9d47
> 
> There's also https://pgxn.org, the PostgreSQL Extension Network.
> It's interface, a list of tags with font sizes that correspond to
> frequency of occurrence, gives me an idea.
> 
> Give up.  Add the sentence "PostgreSQL supports many popular buzzwords,
> which make it more than a relational database."
> and link "buzzwords" to a page of buzzwords.  Since "buzzword"
> is so generic, "Geospatial" can appear next to "ACID" next to "SQL"
> without concern.  Each buzzword could link to a google search of
> "PostgreSQL" + "<buzzword>".  To get fancy, let the user choose the
> search engine.  Or really give up and link to a buzzword page on
> the pg wiki.

I don't really follow what you're suggesting here. I think a bunch of 
the language you've suggested makes sense for the homepage (and it'll 
have to be modified in other places); this just needs some iterating and 
thinking through given the prominence of the language.

Given it is the homepage -- and at the very top -- we do need to be 
careful about what we say/link to, because as I said before, it becomes 
a quasi-official endorsement. Keeping the generic text does allow us to 
say that PostgreSQL can handle N different types of workloads, and I 
think it's fine for us to link to other resources.

(Also, having been through many rounds of discussions around external 
linking, I do think it's prudent we have guidelines for how any external 
linking is included).

To move this along, here is a patch with suggested changes on just the 
homepage -- as mentioned, we'll likely need to deploy this wider, but I 
want us to feel comfortable with the language before building a full 
fledged patch. I took the suggestion of using two sentences in the first 
paragraph. I don't think the second paragraph is quite there yet, but 
this should give something to discuss.

To make it easier to comment, here are the sentences below:

==quote==
PostgreSQL is a powerful, extensible, open source relational database 
with over 35 years of active development. PostgreSQL has earned a strong 
reputation for reliability, feature robustness, and performance.

PostgreSQL can be used for a wide variety of use-cases, including 
transactional and analytical workloads. PostgreSQL extensions add more 
functionality to PostgreSQL, which are used to support geospatial, time 
series, AI and vector queries, full-text search, distributed systems, 
and many more workloads.
==quote==

Thanks,

Jonathan

diff --git a/templates/index.html b/templates/index.html
index b3ca93c..ded0478 100644
--- a/templates/index.html
+++ b/templates/index.html
@@ -27,8 +27,17 @@
       <h2>New to PostgreSQL?</h2>
       <div class="text">
         <p>
-          PostgreSQL is a powerful, open source object-relational database system with over 35 years of active development
-          that has earned it a strong reputation for reliability, feature robustness, and performance.
+          PostgreSQL is a powerful, extensible, open source relational database
+          with over 35 years of active development. PostgreSQL has earned a
+          strong reputation for reliability, feature robustness, and
+          performance.
+        </p>
+        <p>
+          PostgreSQL can be used for a wide variety of use-cases, including
+          transactional and analytical workloads. PostgreSQL extensions add more
+          functionality to PostgreSQL, which are used to support geospatial,
+          time series, AI and vector queries, full-text search,
+          distributed systems, and many more workloads.
         </p>
         <p>
           There is a wealth of information to be found describing how to <a href="/download/">install</a> and <a href="/docs/">use</a> PostgreSQL through the <a href="/docs/">official documentation</a>.


Attachments:

  [text/plain] aboutline-v1.diff (1.3K, 2-aboutline-v1.diff)
  download | inline diff:
diff --git a/templates/index.html b/templates/index.html
index b3ca93c..ded0478 100644
--- a/templates/index.html
+++ b/templates/index.html
@@ -27,8 +27,17 @@
       <h2>New to PostgreSQL?</h2>
       <div class="text">
         <p>
-          PostgreSQL is a powerful, open source object-relational database system with over 35 years of active development
-          that has earned it a strong reputation for reliability, feature robustness, and performance.
+          PostgreSQL is a powerful, extensible, open source relational database
+          with over 35 years of active development. PostgreSQL has earned a
+          strong reputation for reliability, feature robustness, and
+          performance.
+        </p>
+        <p>
+          PostgreSQL can be used for a wide variety of use-cases, including
+          transactional and analytical workloads. PostgreSQL extensions add more
+          functionality to PostgreSQL, which are used to support geospatial,
+          time series, AI and vector queries, full-text search,
+          distributed systems, and many more workloads.
         </p>
         <p>
           There is a wealth of information to be found describing how to <a href="/download/">install</a> and <a href="/docs/">use</a> PostgreSQL through the <a href="/docs/">official documentation</a>.


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