> The original version of PostgreSQL from the 1980s did not remove dead tuples. The idea was that keeping all the older versions allowed applications to execute “time-travel” queries to examine the database at a particular point in time (e.g., run a SELECT query on the state of the database as it existed at the end of last week).
@mikoto No, just saying that the way that Postgres is implemented was tailor-built for that functionality, they dropped it and now it's technical debt.
@mikoto yes. incidentally I think Oracle can do it if you set up your db from the beginning for it. I remember it was a feature in Oracle 10g from 20 years ago, but I don't know exactly how it worked so it might not have been exactly the same as being able to magically query data from last Tuesday.
@mikoto Oracle is actually a god-tier database, people shit all over it but the only things that are really wrong with it are it costs a lot. well and they cram every gimmick into it to drive sales, but you don't have to use any of that crap.
@sun i think that's the thing, if oracle was free and open source, then I'd imagine a lot more people would e be happy with it and use it, but that would also mean oracle wouldn't be swimming in money.