I'm using Linux (Ubuntu) After create a database I create 2 users; John and Mark using two command:

1) INSERT INTO mysql.user (User,Host,authentication_string,ssl_cipher,x509_issuer,x509_subject)VALUES('john','localhost','password','','','');

2) INSERT INTO mysql.user (User,Host,authentication_string,ssl_cipher,x509_issuer,x509_subject)VALUES('mark','localhost',PASSWORD('password'),'','','');

my question: Is there any difference between how the authentication strings are stored for the 2 users? Which one is better, and why? Thank you