July 26, 2026
Package manager cage match
Pip install Postgres – no Docker/Brew/apt
Postgres lands in one install, and the comments instantly turned feral
TLDR: A new Python tool lets people launch a temporary Postgres database with a simple install instead of wrestling with bigger setup tools. Commenters immediately turned it into a fight about package managers and whether stuffing binaries into Python’s package system is smart, gross, or both.
A new Python tool is promising something that makes tired developers blink twice: a full Postgres test database with one install, no Docker, no Homebrew, no apt, no usual setup ritual. In plain English, it lets people spin up a fresh copy of the popular database for testing apps, fast, locally, and with very little fuss. The pitch is convenience. The community response? Immediate side-eye, sarcasm, and a tiny civil war.
The biggest drama wasn’t even the tool itself — it was how it’s shipped. One commenter dropped a link to an ongoing argument about whether Python’s package site should be used to hand out chunky binary files at all, basically lighting the fuse on the "is this clever or cursed?" debate. Another came in with a full-body shudder — "Ewww" — which honestly says more than a thousand benchmark charts.
Then came the package-manager snobbery, because of course it did. One person declared that "the Python world has moved to uv from pip," while another asked why anyone would use "the worst package manager" when better options exist. Ouch. So while the tool offers handy tricks like throwaway databases, quick restores, and even a bundled query-plan viewer, the comments turned into a referendum on taste, tooling, and whether convenience is worth offending the local software purists. In classic internet fashion, the real product demo happened in the replies.
Key Points
- •The article introduces postgresql-testing, a Python-oriented PostgreSQL testing helper that works without Docker, Homebrew, or apt by using postgresql-binaries.
- •It provides both Python and command-line workflows, including a pytest fixture example and a `postgresql-testing-serve` command for launching a local database.
- •The tool supports creating fresh databases from templates or archives and includes helpers related to template databases and archival workflows.
- •A bundled local-first copy of explain.dalibo.com is included for inspecting PostgreSQL query plans generated with `EXPLAIN ... FORMAT JSON`.
- •Benchmark figures are provided for 100 and 1000 tables, with separate timings for template creation, archive dump, and archive restoration, including faster macOS ramdisk results.