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The PostGIS Installation instructions show using CREATE EXTENSION to create PostGIS and several related extensions (see below).

After recently installing PostgreSQL 14.6 on Ubuntu,¹ I went to create these extensions. When I look at the available extensions, all of the extensions listed below except for fyzzystrmatch appear as shown and as postgis-3, postgis_raster-3, etc. The available version numbers are the same for all of them, leading me to believe that they are just aliases, but I can't find any information about them in the documentation.

What are the postgis_*-3 extensions? Is there any difference between them and the "base" extensions, and is there a reason to prefer either one?

CREATE EXTENSION postgis;
CREATE EXTENSION postgis_raster;
CREATE EXTENSION postgis_sfcgal;
CREATE EXTENSION fuzzystrmatch; --needed for postgis_tiger_geocoder
--optional used by postgis_tiger_geocoder, or can be used standalone
CREATE EXTENSION address_standardizer;
CREATE EXTENSION address_standardizer_data_us;
CREATE EXTENSION postgis_tiger_geocoder;
CREATE EXTENSION postgis_topology;

¹ Actually done by a colleague.

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  • This seems like more an IT/config release issue with Ubuntu than a GIS-centric problem.
    – Vince
    Commented Feb 27, 2023 at 21:03
  • Have you read the documentation, for example postgis.net/docs/standardize_address.html, postgis.net/docs/RT_FAQ.html, postgis.net/docs/reference.html#reference_sfcgal
    – user30184
    Commented Feb 27, 2023 at 21:33
  • As the question states, I can't find any information about this in the documentation. If I've missed something and you can find a place in the documentation that specifically addresses the question, please let me know. Commented Feb 27, 2023 at 22:39
  • How did you get a list of extensions? Anyway, what you see comes from the way how extensions are handled in PostgreSQL postgresql.org/docs/current/extend-extensions.html. However, the postgresql.org/docs/current/… function gives me a list with exact version numbers: "(postgis,3.1.2,t,f,,,"PostGIS geometry and geography spatial types and functions")"
    – user30184
    Commented Feb 28, 2023 at 7:50
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    The *-3 lines that you see are probably referring to the module names in the filesystem. For example, my postgis_raster.control file has an entry module_pathname = '$libdir/postgis_raster-3', and in that directory I have a binary file postgis_raster-3.dll. I do not know why your Ubuntu system is listing those *-3 things. Do you have also corresponding .control files, for example postgis_raster-3.control? In any case, there is no GIS component in this question really.
    – user30184
    Commented Feb 28, 2023 at 8:08

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