pg_dump and the Backup Tool Debate

Gulcin Yildirim Jelinek explains the debate around whether pg_dump is a backup tool or not:

Recently, while writing about the vulnerability affecting pg_dump, the topic of decommissioning pg_dump came up on Twitter. Unlike the nostalgic feelings many had for Pluto, there was less reluctance to see pg_dump reclassified. In fact, some people were eager to retire it as a backup utility, and I even got a bit of pushback for still referring to pg_dump as one

I was talking to my colleague Simona the other day, and she mentioned that everybody in Postgres circles says, “pg_dump is not a backup tool,” but perhaps it’s not always explained well why it is not.

Read on for that explanation.