[saosebastiao]

Whenever there is a version update, I can't help but be grateful for the documentation ethic of Postgres. For the vast majority of my projects I have to wade through unaffiliated and incomplete blog tutorials that may or may not be relevant to the version I'm trying to use. With anything related to Postgres, I may read about something on a blog post, but I always know that I can count on the Postgres documentation if I need supplemental information, or sometimes I'll skip the post and go straight to the official docs. The PostgreSQL project, in my mind, sets the standard globally for software documentation.

I should add that Postgres was the first database I ever used, and I literally learned pretty much everything I know about Postgres, SQL, as well as Relational and Set Logic from the official docs. And that was with no background in software development and an undergraduate business degree with Excel being my most technologically advanced toolset. That is a documentation success story.

[jrapdx3]

Remarkable similar to my own history with Postgresql, which I started using in ~1998 at the time of their first public release. Postgresql documentation has indeed been the exemplar for all software, open source or not. It's been the SQL textbook I've relied on.

With the steady addition of features, it's gotten much more complex, and there will come a time when using just the documentation won't be enough to learn how to use Postgresql to full advantage. With release of 9.5 we might be there now.

Perhaps the logical extension of the documentation is some form of coursework to enable users to learn the DB systematically. I haven't looked into it, this might already be offered.

[AlisdairO]

(self plug) for coursework on the read-only SQL side, you might want to give http://pgexercises.com a try. I have ambitions to expand it to include arrays and json, but alas haven't found the time so far...

[Alex3917]

This is awesome, thanks for making it!

[AlisdairO]

Cheers, hope it's useful :-)

[ptman]

I call that BSD culture

[cpursley]

Speaking of great documentation, I've been blown away by the quality of documentation for sequel - a Ruby ORM that has some more advanced features (than ActiveRecord) for working with Postgres:

- http://sequel.jeremyevans.net/documentation.html

- http://sequel.jeremyevans.net/rdoc/files/doc/postgresql_rdoc...

- http://github.com/jeremyevans/sequel

[sedatk]

an interesting point about pgsql is that the team wrote the documentation first and coded it after. when it's finished they didn't need to write docs.

[threeseed]

> PostgreSQL project, in my mind, sets the standard globally for software documentation.

Sure if you already understand PostgreSQL. If you don't then it isn't particularly user friendly. It's awkward to navigate, doesn't explain the basics (how to actually install it) and tends to combine information that is more for advanced users on the same page as beginners.

Compare you're standard with mine (MongoDB):

http://www.postgresql.org/docs/9.5/static/

https://docs.mongodb.org/manual/

[simoncion]

> ...doesn't explain the basics (how to actually install it)...

Er, http://www.postgresql.org/download/ and/or http://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/static/installation.h... ?

> ...tends to combine information that is more for advanced users on the same page as beginners.

There's a tutorial for beginners: http://www.postgresql.org/docs/9.4/static/tutorial.html

Then there's reference material in the rest of the manual. The tutorial even suggests the order in which you should read the rest of the manual. :)

[threeseed]

The documentation doesn't explain how to install binaries and the download pages don't either. Everything defers responsibility to whatever package manager you're using e.g. "PostgreSQL can also be installed on Mac OS X using Homebrew. Please see the Homewbrew documentation for information on how to install packages". And the documentation only explains installing from source code which I can't imagine most people aren't doing.

The point is that every other database explains precisely the recommended approach for how to install it on every platform.

[simoncion]

> The documentation doesn't explain how to install binaries and the download pages don't either.

Hmm.

"The graphical installer for PostgreSQL includes the PostgreSQL server, pgAdmin III; a graphical tool for managing and developing your databases, and StackBuilder; a package manager that can be used to download and install additional PostgreSQL applications and drivers.

The installer is designed to be as straightforward as possible and the fastest way to get up and running with PostgreSQL on Windows." http://www.postgresql.org/download/windows/

"Binary packages for Solaris can be downloaded from the solaris subdirectory of the version you require from our file browser.

Packages for Solaris 10 and 11 are available for Sparc and i386 platforms.

Although produced by Oracle (previously Sun), these packages are not officially supported by them.

Solaris packages are installed by unpacking the compressed tar files directly into the install directory; see the README files for details." http://www.postgresql.org/download/solaris/

"These distributions all include PostgreSQL by default. To install PostgreSQL from these repositories, use the yum command:

yum install postgresql-server

Which version of PostgreSQL you get will depend on the version of the distribution: ..." http://www.postgresql.org/download/linux/redhat/

"Debian includes PostgreSQL by default. To install PostgreSQL on Debian, use the apt-get (or other apt-driving) command: apt-get install postgresql-9.4

The repository contains many different packages including third party addons. The most common and important packages are (substitute the version number as required): ..." http://www.postgresql.org/download/linux/debian/

"Ubuntu includes PostgreSQL by default. To install PostgreSQL on Ubuntu, use the apt-get (or other apt-driving) command: apt-get install postgresql-9.4

The repository contains many different packages including third party addons. The most common and important packages are (substitute the version number as required):" http://www.postgresql.org/download/linux/ubuntu/

"RPMs for SUSE Linux and openSUSE are available from the openSUSE Build Service in the project server:database:postgresql. Platform-specific RPM packages are available for PostgreSQL as well as a variety of related software. Use the search facility to find suitable packages. Documentation is also available there." http://www.postgresql.org/download/linux/suse/

"Note! These are the generic Linux download instructions. If you are using one of the major Linux distributions, you should read the distribution specific instructions: ... PostgreSQL is available integrated with the package management on most Linux platforms. When available, this is the recommended way to install PostgreSQL, since it provides proper integration with the operating system, including automatic patching and other management functionality.

Should packages not be available for your distribution, or there are issues with your package manager, there are graphical installers available.

Finally, most Linux systems make it easy to build from source. ... [Also, i]nstallers are available for 32 and 64-bit Linux distributions and include PostgreSQL, pgAdmin and the StackBuilder utility for installation of additional packages.

Download the installer from EnterpriseDB for all supported versions." http://www.postgresql.org/download/linux/

> The point is that every other database explains precisely the recommended approach for how to install it on every platform.

It really looks like Postgresql does that, too. Do you disagree?

[jsprogrammer]

The first Mac OS X package is the Graphical Installer. [0]

It looks like it takes you to a link that lets you download a .dmg file. I assume those are basically one-click installers for Mac OS X programs?

[0] http://www.postgresql.org/download/macosx/

[donarb]

Even easier is the Postgres.app for Mac. It's a Mac application that wraps the Postgres server. Nothing to compile, just download and start the app.

[vetinari]

Yes, it is one click installer for OSX.

However, the EnterpriseDB for OSX is basically broken. The good news is, that the user, who needs step by step instructions to download and install, will never find it out. On the other hand, user, who will find it out (because he is unable to build any pg extension with their pgxs, for example) does not need instructions at this level.

[nkozyra]

They are. I don't think it's in any way more arcane to install than, say, MySQL. Not to say the latter has stellar documentation, but those complaints are picky if not invalid.