Using Python for my web site

[Gerhard Fiedler]

On 2006-08-02 00:51:28, Conrad wrote:

> Which begins "A few years ago" 

Exactly. Isn't this a good start for honesty? It doesn't claim to state
anything up to date.

It continues "I did some research", "some" being a very clear indicator
that I didn't consider this a thorough research. From the stated results of
this research it should be clear to any reasonable reader what kind of
research that was. "Claimed to have", "seemed to have" are not really
expressions that try to claim more than they are.

What does it mean to you when someone says "reports seemed to have been"?
Is that what you call "extensive (and well documented) research"? If so,
your standards don't really seem to be what you seem to say they are.


> It appears that Bruno and Sybren did the same, no? 

No. Neither Bruno nor Sybren got defensive or resorted to sarcasm.

> Perhaps we could get a referal for all of us to an optician for group
> rates?

Or for a few therapy sessions. There's no need to get defensive, just
because someone spent a day a few years ago reading documentation,
searching the web and newsgroups for experiences that people have with both
databases (like you and Cliff), got at that time the impression that what
those people reported (anecdotically -- that's all one can get without tons
of time and money to spend) was what I wrote it was, and stated this. I did
not overstate any of that, nor did I make it less subjective than it was.

So what's your problem? Why the sarcasm? "A blog posting by some kid who's
been serving up pictures of his sister's kitties with MySQL" -- again the
same sarcasm. Having a bad week?

> Here's my issue - someone, who according to my defective newsreader and
> clearly myopic eyes appeared to be you, once again invoked the word
> research. Not only research, but results. I've done research. 

Read the context. I didn't use the "r" word without context. You may not
like the word in that (very "light") context, but that's a personal issue,
and I couldn't really foresee it. The context was pretty clear, at least
for someone with a minimum of goodwill, wasn't it?

> I haven't seen any significant research on PosgreSQL vs. MySQL in an
> apples-to-apples, detached, no-axes-to-grind study.

Neither have I. I would have been glad to read it, at the time I needed to
decide between the two. So yes, it's all anectodical "evidence" (or is that
also too strong a word?). Hunting for that is the only form of research
someone like me (not a database admin, but in the need of selecting
databases for projects) can afford. I thought that was kind of understood.


BTW, compared to a lot of "research" that has the only function of
providing a paper to further the career of someone and "prove" some
preconceived notions, my (admittedly very light) research was done with
honesty, without predisposition towards any results and with the desire to
actually get results. I just spent on it what I could afford. That may not
be enough for everybody else's standards, but that's how I (and many
others) need to operate. 

Maybe I could have used a more appropriate word. I just don't know one;
"research" was the closest I came up with. 

Gerhard