I've been using MariaDB (MySQL) as a hobbyist for years. I just set up a couple myqsql servers with phpmyadmin on Raspberry PIs and use them for local development. Basic crud apps, etc.
I've always assumed that PostgreSQL is a step up, but never really bothered to look into what I get for the effort. Do I really get anything if I'm not trying to make apps at scale?
> I've always assumed that PostgreSQL, but never really bothered to look into what I get for the effort.
You're making a (mistaken) assumption that Postgres giving you a "step up" means that you also have to put in more effort. You don't, at least not in my experience. Both are database servers with a bunch of install & setup. There's phppgadmin if you want an 1:1 replacement for phpmyadmin (no opinion on these, haven't used either).
Postgres just gets you farther if you need to at a later point.
I would recommend you swap out mysql for postgres on your raspis. You're gaining experience on one of the two. But experience on Postgres seems to be more useful and valuable (cf. rest of the HN comments), for the same cost of your time.
If you’re not at the level of detail to care about transaction isolation levels, clustered indexes, and the implementation details of replication, you can invest your time elsewhere. For certain use cases and workloads, the differences can matter a lot, but many developers are just looking for a backing store for their CRUD app and in that case, either is likely fine.
I've always assumed that PostgreSQL is a step up, but never really bothered to look into what I get for the effort. Do I really get anything if I'm not trying to make apps at scale?