Ron <ronljohnsonjr@xxxxxxxxx> writes: > In 2019 using supported versions of PostgreSQL, what practical use is there > to use the tar format, and -- other than migrating trivially sized databases > to other RDBMSs -- the plain format? The historical argument for the tar format is that you can get your data out of it with a standard Unix tool (tar, of course), rather than having to depend on the availability of pg_restore. Certainly there's room to argue about how important that really is, but I don't think the validity of the argument is much different than it was in 2001. You need to be able to get a plain-text dump if you want to edit the data or schema at all, which is a pretty common requirement. However, as long as you're willing to assume the availability of pg_restore, you can extract plain text from one of the other formats; so this point isn't a reason not to make your dump in one of the other formats to begin with. regards, tom lane
