Re: PostgreSQL HowTo

[Lamar Owen <lamar.owen@wgcr.org>]

[Thomas cc:ed me, and I'm replying to the whole group as one who has had
contact with Al Dev regarding the PostgreSQL RPM's omission of his HOWTO
, which used to be distributed in the RPM's, which I maintain.]

Thomas Lockhart wrote:
 
> > be easily accepted, and the current PostgreSQL HOWTO removed.  I think
> > somebody should probably contact the author of the current HOWTO,
> > either an "official" of the LDP (Guylhem, don't you need a few more
> > people hating you?:), and/or a member of the PostgreSQL team.

Good luck talking to aldev.  He thinks his second chapter is God's Gift
To Hackerdom.  I certainly have sympathy for the one who contacts him,
as he is incorrigible. While I am sure he means well, and he certainly
has the freedom to say whatever he wants to say, the forum of a HOWTO is
not, IMO, designed to carry that sort of message.

> Linux well, but it may be better to expand the FAQ to cover at least
> some common topics and to be more closely cross-referenced to the other
> documents. We would be happy to take suggestions from the LDP community
> on form and content.

The book that Bruce is writing is an excellent model for a HOWTO, except
for the fact that the HOWTO needs more Linux-specific (in particular,
RPM-specific) instructions.  However, inclusion of Bruce's book would
render the HOWTO unprintable, as Addison-Wesley owns the paper
publishing rights. A clear reference to the book should be made, IMHO.

I see the following structure:
1.)	About PostgreSQL (history, what-is-it, etc)
2.)	How to get PostgreSQL
3.)	How to install PostgreSQL (from source, from .deb, and from rpm)
4.)	How to administer PostgreSQL (including upgrade caveats and
instructions, as this phase of PostgreSQL usage is the one most likely
to cause a user problems)
5.)	What can I do with PostgreSQL? (Applications and interfaces).
6.)	How to use the PostgreSQL documentation
7.)	The PostgreSQL Global Development Group -- How to contact and
contribute (with pointers to the mailing lists @postgresql.org).

Yes, I'm volunteering to _help_ write/maintain one... Need to learn
{DocBook|Linuxdoc|SGML} anyway... :-) Thomas is PGDG's Doc guru, though,
and is probably a better choice to actually write the thing.

--
Lamar Owen
WGCR Internet Radio
1 Peter 4:11


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