I just installed mysql via homebrew (with brew install mysql, on Mac OS X Mountain Lion - recently installed from scratch). Following the installation, there is a "caveats" section with options around further necessary actions to take:

==> Caveats
Set up databases to run AS YOUR USER ACCOUNT with:
    unset TMPDIR
    mysql_install_db --verbose --user=`whoami` --basedir="$(brew --prefix mysql)" --datadir=/usr/local/var/mysql --tmpdir=/tmp

To set up base tables in another folder, or use a different user to run
mysqld, view the help for mysqld_install_db:
    mysql_install_db --help

and view the MySQL documentation:
  * http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.5/en/mysql-install-db.html
  * http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.5/en/default-privileges.html

To run as, for instance, user "mysql", you may need to `sudo`:
    sudo mysql_install_db ...options...

Start mysqld manually with:
    mysql.server start

    Note: if this fails, you probably forgot to run the first two steps up above

A "/etc/my.cnf" from another install may interfere with a Homebrew-built
server starting up correctly.

To connect:
    mysql -uroot

To launch on startup:
* if this is your first install:
    mkdir -p ~/Library/LaunchAgents
    cp /usr/local/Cellar/mysql/5.5.27/homebrew.mxcl.mysql.plist ~/Library/LaunchAgents/
    launchctl load -w ~/Library/LaunchAgents/homebrew.mxcl.mysql.plist

* if this is an upgrade and you already have the homebrew.mxcl.mysql.plist loaded:
    launchctl unload -w ~/Library/LaunchAgents/homebrew.mxcl.mysql.plist
    cp /usr/local/Cellar/mysql/5.5.27/homebrew.mxcl.mysql.plist ~/Library/LaunchAgents/
    launchctl load -w ~/Library/LaunchAgents/homebrew.mxcl.mysql.plist

You may also need to edit the plist to use the correct "UserName".

On previous versions of Mac OS X I ran mysql as mysql user, but now I am confronted by the idea of running it as myself. I am the only one who uses this computer (which happens to be my laptop), and I do programming for work and for pleasure.

What are the pros & cons, or best practices, around choosing whether to run mysql AS YOUR USER ACCOUNT or as mysql or something else still?