On Thu, 7 Nov 2019 at 10:24, Bruce Momjian <bruce@momjian.us> wrote:
What is the value of a shared library over a shell command? We had this discussion in relation to archive_command years ago, and decided on a shell command as the best API.
I don't recall such a discussion, but I can give perspective:
* shell command offered the widest and simplest API for integration, which was the most important consideration for a backup API. That choice caused difficulty with the need to pass information to the external command, e.g. %f %p
* shared library is more appropriate for a security-related module, so users can't see how it is configured, as well as being more tightly integrated so it can be better tailored to various uses
Summary is that the choice is not random, nor mere preference