I think this proposal is a bit deadlocked now.
- There are technical concerns about launching a server executable from
within a client.
- There are conceptual concerns about promoting an embedded database mode.
On the other hand:
- Everyone would like to have a way to use psql (and other basic
clients) in stand-alone mode.
The compromise would be to not launch the server from within the client,
but have client and server communicate over external mechanisms (e.g.,
Unix-domain socket).
The concern about that was that it would open up standalone mode to
accidental third-party connections. While there are some ways around
that (socket in private directory), they are not easy and not portable.So standalone mode would became less robust and
reliableoverall.
The only solutions I see are:
1. do nothing
2. do everything (i.e., existing terminal mode plus socket mode plus
embedded mode), letting the user work out the differences
Pick one. ;-)