Re: Maybe off-topic: Why MySQL so popular? (or why PostgreSQL so un-popular?)

Carlos Moreno <moreno@mochima.com> writes:
> I'm so frustrated!!  Could somebody tell me at 
> least a reason for which MySQL could have become 
> so popular?  Maybe knowing that there is a 
> concrete reason will help me alleviate this 
> deep feeling of irritation...  :-( 

It's a historical thing, I think.  Three or four years ago, when it
first occurred to people that making database-backed websites would be a
Good Idea, MySQL probably *was* the better choice.  Postgres had a lot
of features, but it was still basically an academic research system:
it had lots of bugs too, and performance wasn't very good.  So most of
the early work on database-backed websites gravitated to MySQL.

Since then, we've come a long way in improving stability and
performance, but we still have to play catchup in the mindshare
department.  Especially among people who are mostly tuned into
web development.
        regards, tom lane