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mw44118

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Imagine my users table has a unique constraint on email address. Or my hotel_room_reservations table has to guarantee I never store overlapping reservations for the same room. In either case, on insert and on update, I need to check the new or updated row vs a bunch of other rows.

Those scenarios make horizontal scaling not so simple. Sure, get rid of those constraints, and you can insert as fast as your network can ship the bytes. But that's not a database anymore. That's a glorified flat file.

There's no install instructions in the .zip file, but there is a github wiki. But that has obsolete instructions. But there's an open issue, and the comments for that issue include fixes to that.

I stopped messing with it once I saw how they wanted me to install something into root's crontab.

My hypothesis: postgresql has none of these jazzy monitoring tools because it never crashes.

Sure, as traffic grows, slow queries need to be optimized, crappy N+1 ORMs need to be replaced, and boxes need more RAM and faster disks, but when was the last time you heard of anyone complain about postgresql or blame it for any downtime?

Idle social chit chat is not easy for a lot of people. So don't waste time with that. Instead, think about how you can use your gifts to help other people.

Don't volunteer to hand out trays at a soup kitchen. That doesn't leverage your skills. Instead, volunteer to analyze their inventory system to look for more efficient patterns.

Since you're an engineer, you're probably good at math. You could probably teach a GED-preparation class to high school dropouts. You could teach a community college class or tutor a group of students. You'll get practice with talking to people and you'll probably really help out others.

There are a TON of nonprofits that need technical help. Volunteer to run a website (for example). If you don't know how to do that, learn in all that weekend free time!

You have a lot of power to make the world a much better place. Do that selflessly and friendships will follow.

Friendships among dudes are best thought of as alliances formed to help reach a goal.

Find a meaningful goal.