Re: default client encoding in postgresql.conf

Robert Treat <xzilla@users.sourceforge.net> writes:
> looking in my freshly installed 8.3.3, I see this in the postgresql.conf
> #client_encoding = sql_ascii            # actually, defaults to database
>                                                            # encoding

> Now, certainly initdb can't know for sure what encoding a future database will 
> be in, but since it does know what encoding template0 & friends will be in, 
> and most databases are copied from those (including encoding), wouldn't a 
> better default be to set it the encoding of template0? 

No.  Setting it at all in postgresql.conf is generally the wrong thing;
the right thing is to let the default behavior (ie, make it equal to the
database encoding) happen.
        regards, tom lane