[postgis-users] PostGIS vs Oracle Spatial/MS SQL2008

Thu Nov 26 05:02:32 PST 2009

Hi,

you could also see this compare table at bostongis.com (the site is offline
but we have google cache :P)

http://www.google.com.br/url?sa=t&source=web&ct=res&cd=2&ved=0CA0QFjAB&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bostongis.com%2FPrinterFriendly.aspx%3Fcontent_name%3Dsqlserver2008_postgis_mysql_compare&ei=w3YOS7OAONKztgfQsvHqCg&usg=AFQjCNGieeag5GB-1wlnru62yyb68VJzNw

[]'s
Luigi Castro Cardeles


2009/11/26 Simon Greener <simon at spatialdbadvisor.com>

> Paul,
>
> (This is NOT a flame!)
>
>
>  Oracle's wonderfully featureful, but if you're not already an Oracle
>> shop, you'd be foolish to bring it in. It's difficult to learn and
>> administer, which is why "Oracle DBA" is such a great job title to
>> hold (job security!)
>>
>
> Still peddling this old canard, Paul, that Oracle is "difficult to learn
> and administer"?!
> It has never been difficult to learn (I've been teaching basic SQL since
> 1988 to non-technical people):
> no more than any other database. It might have been difficult to administer
> in the past but it is far easier nowadays. Anyway,
> its instrumentation and configurability is one of the reasons it is a great
> and very fast database....
>
>
>  SQL Server is more lightweight, but it naturally ties you into the
>> Windows platform, if you want to deploy on some other operating
>> system... tough. Many administrators love it, some hate it. The
>> spatial support is also pretty new, which means support for it is
>> still building. However, it is Microsoft, so it'll only get stronger
>> over time.
>>
>
> A reasonable summary.
>
>
>  PostGIS is easy to install and easy to use, it has a clear simple
>> syntax, it's been around a long time, is stable and very fast.
>>
>
> Now you go and compare apples with oranges. Above you have a go at Oracle
> being "difficult"
> (like ESRItes say Spatial is slow - but forget to tell you the slowest
> client against Oracle Spatial
> is ArcSDE. Compare ArcSDE+ArcGIS render time against GeoServer or MapServer
> and you'll
> see what I mean), but you don't talk about Oracle Spatial you talk about
> Oracle.
>
> You reference Spatial when talking about SQL Server (a fraction of the
> functionality of the database) but
> your criticisms are mainly about it (the host database) being on one
> platform etc etc.
>
> Yes PostGIS is "easy to install" but Oracle Spatial is even easier: you
> don't have to as it comes with
> the database! There are no issues about putting the Oracle Spatial code in
> another schema (cf the emails
> on this forum) - it just "works". Doesn't get easier than that!
>
> With regards spatial the functionality of the basic type in PostGIS is far
> superior to anything else on the market.
> Critical analytical functionality like ST_Union cannot be matched and are
> excellent. Oracle has other SPatial
> APIs other than just the basic type but the number of people who use them
> is low because of licensing issues.
> Yes, PostGIS has related projects that compare to these but most of these
> projects are not yet in full production (ie verion 1.0 or above).
>
> But if we talk about PostgreSQL the database, yes it is easy to install,
> but I would argue that it more difficult to
> learn than Oracle because of its quirky post-Relational extensions which
> (for simple people like me)
> is exposed in weird SQL quirks that I find frankly, crazy. Something
> trivial in Oracle can be bloody hard
> in PostgreSQL. Anyway, Oracle has better, more mature functionality (ie
> existed before PostgreSQL 8.4!) in many areas
> that I take for granted in crafting solutions eg hierarchical queries,
> materialized views, full analytic SQL etc.
>
> I am still learning how to get the best out of PostgreSQL. I like it a lot
> but that learning process will last a long time.
> And that learning (same with SQL Server) is not about the spatial stuff -
> it is trivial - it is about learning and
> mastering the whole database (eg explain plan and performance analysis).
>  If you are not interested in doing this
> then just grab any database your GIS can connect to and treat it like a
> bit-bucket: PostgreSQL is probably  best for this.
>
> Just my 2c worth.
>
> regards
> Simon
>
>
>
>  On Wed, Nov 25, 2009 at 4:15 PM, Bruce Foster <gis.foster at gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> a. Read somewhere on Topology. Hope someone throw more light on this.
>>>
>>
>> Some basic topology support, but nothing to write home about, and more
>> importantly there are no client tools that support it. Topology is a
>> sexy slow dance between the underlying data model and the user-facing
>> application that exposes the model, and the difficult part is on the
>> user-facing side. This is why ESRI's topology stuff remains
>> more-or-less the only stuff in use -- because they nailed the
>> user-facing side.
>>
>>  b. Versioning, which is not available in Postgres
>>>
>>
>> You can build versioned tables easily enough with some simple rules
>> and triggers. Again, the question is what user-facing application you
>> are planning to use and what your use case is going to be.
>>
>>  On a related note, can we edit directly on PostGIS using MapInfo,
>>>
>>
>> Yes
>>
>>  ArcGIS Desktop,
>>>
>>
>> Yes, with zigGIS. Yes also with ArcGIS Server underneath, but ... ouch.
>>
>>  AutoCad Map3D etc.
>>>
>>
>> Yes'ish, the FDO support for PostGIS is still limited and apparently
>> this is finicky at best.
>>
>>  uDIG, QGIS allow direct connectivity to PostGIS, hope they allow
>>> direct file editing too.
>>>
>>
>> Yes, they do. As does gvSIG, and I think MapWindow.
>>
>> Also web-based tricks, like WFS editing through openlayers and
>> geoserver. Or through openlayers and featureserver. Or through geoext
>> and mapfish.
>>
>> Best,
>>
>> Paul
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>> --
>>> Thanks
>>>
>>> Bruce
>>> NSW Australia
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>>
>
> --
> SpatialDB Advice and Design, Solutions Architecture and Programming,
> Oracle Database 10g Administrator Certified Associate; Oracle Database 10g
> SQL Certified Professional
> Oracle Spatial, SQL Server, PostGIS, MySQL, ArcSDE, Manifold GIS, FME,
> Radius Topology and Studio Specialist.
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