Re: [cgiapp] "Best free DB for a web-based Perl app" response results...

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Aaron Dancygier wrote:
Just look at the list of companies that use mysql. Would google and yahoo use it if it werent up to par?
Corporate entities (i.e. corporate managers) make decisions that are not always generated from the same motivations as the rest of us. Google and Yahoo using mysql does make a great endorsement, yes. But that's all it is. As a fan of philosophy and deductive reasoning, I have been getting great joy over the past year or so in noticing and pointing out 'deductive fallacies' whenever they are made in public. Politics is ripe with them as are internet SIGs.
For those unfamiliar, this leap in reasoning is known as Argumentum ad Verecundiam fallacy ("Argument from respect/modesty", Latin - a.k.a. Appeal to Authority) or perhaps it might even fall under Ipse Dixit ("He, himself, said it", Latin) fallacy. Similarly, to point out MySQL as being a better choice simply because more people use it (dare I remind you of the popularity of windows xp or internet explorer?) is an Ad Populum fallacy. How's about because it has been around longer? (I don't know if it has or not, but that would be Ad Antiquatum fallacy)

In summation, a fallacy is something that inspires an unjustified leap in drawing a conclusion based on something that is not logically deduced based on the premises. In short, I prefer to stick to the facts - not popularity contests or the like.

SW





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