PostgreSQL 7 RPMs coming soon

This is a heads up about some changes I'm considering for the PostgreSQL
7.0 RPMS. If the RPMs do not interest you, or you are not involved in
supporting PostgreSQL in the RPM form, then feel free to hit delete.

I wanted to get feedback from the group before I made any changes -- 7.0
is
slated to go beta Feb 15, and I plan on having RPM's available within a
few hours of the official beta release.  I already have feedback from my
contact at RedHat -- and it is complete agreement with the changes I am
proposing.

First, 7.0 has changed many small things about the operation of the
system, including a new procedural language (plperl), a reorganized
regression test suite, and a new 'pg_ctl' command to start and stop the
postmaster.

As a result, I will be having to make some minor changes; and there is
one major change I want to make.

1.)    I want to move the actual database directory from /var/lib/pgsql to
/var/lib/pgsql/data -- this will give the ability to store backups and
other scratch data in /var/lib/pgsql without disturbing the main
database, in an FHS-compliant manner (the current regression tests AND
upgrade scripts are not in compliance with the FHS in terms of their
packaging, unfortunately -- I want to rectify this). This of course will
require sufficient documentation -- and I will provide functionality to
use an existing data structure in /var/lib/pgsql instead, until the user
moves it (new installations will default the initdb to
/var/lib/pgsql/data).

2.)    I will be enabling logs and logrotate functionality in the next
release.

3.)    /etc/rc.d/init.d/postgresql will be rewritten to use the pg_ctl
command, instead of doing the start/stop manually.

4.)    The new plperl language will go in postgresql-perl.

5.)    I am considering splitting out pgaccess and the tk client from
postgresql-tcl to postgresql-tk -- I have had several requests from
users of servers that are using the tcl client and the pltcl language
who do not have X11 installed, a current requirement for the
installation of postgresql-tcl.

6.)    And, of course, an update to version 7.0. This will involve
extensive testing for Alpha, Sparc, and MIPS support -- I am hoping that
Ryan Kirkpatrick and Uncle George can get the Alpha patches in order for
7.0, as I don't believe Tom had time to do the fmgr rewrite like he
wanted. I am also hoping that a number of people with MIPS, ARM, Alpha,
and Sparc (both 32 and 64) will volunteer to beta test 7.0.

The initial builds will be done for Intel only -- until I get patches
and/or confirmation of build on other architectures from those who are
able to test those.

If you have additional suggestions for improving the RPM distribution,
please e-mail them to me.

TIA for your feedback.

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