PostgreSQL Conference: East 08

The State of the Community

Joshua D. Drake

Organizing(legal like)

Long before anyone else, (~2000?), came the Japanesehttp://www.postgresql.jp/

In 2005, came the Frenchhttp://www.postgresqlfr.org/

In 2006, came SPIhttp://www.spi-inc.org/

In 2007, came the Italianshttp://www.itpug.org/

In 2008, the regions got it togetherhttp://www.postgresql.euhttp://www.postgresql.us

Postgresql.eu

● Facilitate the work for the user groups around Europe (not EU), in particular smaller groups that don't have the resources.

● Act as user group for European countries that don't have their own local organization.

● Assist in coordination and production and distribute flyers, folders, t-shirts, mugs, other swag to the different European events and groups.

● European-level advocacy and marketing as a complement to the national ones there today

Postgresql.us

● Support the PostgreSQL Community Conference series (EAST/WEST)

● Continue establishing PGDays like those at OSCON and LinuxWorld

● Establish a grant program to sponsor the advocacy and development of PostgreSQL

● Work with international PostgreSQL organizations to achieve common goals

● Establish and support user groups in all major areas of the United States.

● Create free curriculum for PostgreSQL

● Establish regularly scheduled workshops for PostgreSQL

So what does this mean for...

Not Growing?

It's time to step it up. You fight big budgets with enthusiastic and engaging volunteers!

Growing!

Every PostgreSQL Community Event, must be a sea of blue, an Army of Smurfs!Josh it is time to put that PostgreSQL shirt version in the sock drawer for good!

Cause there is never enough...

Elements to growth

● Community● Developers● Education● Infrastructure● Goals

Community

● A community must exist beyond the main body – Similar communities that have expanded have shown significant growth

in all areas (Apache)

– The main body must support and encourage growth of secondary projects

● Example Secondary projects to the main body

– Slony-I– PL/Proxy– LedgerSMB– ruby-pg– PL/LOLCODE– Replicator

Community part deux

● Linux would be nothing but an interesting personal research project without users.

● For growth of PostgreSQL to continue, the community as a whole must be considered.

Community part 日本語 )

99% of the community is outside of @postgresql.org

Developers

● Developers are most important to the product body. However they are only one part of the community body.

● Developers are needed for any community to grow. Without developers the product withers.

● Have you reviewed a patch lately?– http://momjian.us/mhonarc/patches/thrd8.html#00969

Developers part dois

● Did you know that if only 200 companies donated 100.00 per month, the PostgreSQL community could support (including stipends for health insurance and taxes) two senior hackers, full time.

● Did you know that if 1000 community members donated 36.00 a month, we could sponsor an additional two senior hackers?

There are only three hackers currently active on PostgreSQL.Org core.

Tom Lane, Peter Eisentraut and Dave Page.

Developers part 한국어

• Did you know that if SUN Microsystems had donated just 10% of the monies paid to MySQL to PostgreSQL instead...

• SUN could have sponsored 20 full time PostgreSQL hackers including all taxes, overheard, merit raises, benefits and cost of living increases for:

20 years

Assumes 250K per year aggregate expense.

Education

Education is the root of Open Source

The future growth of our community relies on our ability to educate the DBAs, Programmers, Users and Corporations.

●Free Curriculum●Workshops●Training●Tutorials●Conferences●Talks

All of the above are vital to the education of the wider community.

Let's face it, we must save people from rabid Dolphins

Education part Wili

● In 2006, PostgreSQL had its first “PostgreSQL” conference. The 10th Anniversary in Toronto.

● In 2007, PostgreSQL had its first dedicated commercial Conference, PGCon in Ottawa.

● In 2007, PostgreSQL had its first dedicated Community conferences, PgDay.IT and West.

● In the first quarter of 2008 there are already 8 planned PostgreSQL only conference

– East – Maryland

– PG UK 2008

– PgCon - Ottawa

– PDXPUG Day @ OSCON

– LWEPG Day @ LinuxWorld

– West – Portland

– PGDay.IT – Italy

– PGCon EU – TBA

● Community led events are the key to educating the new and existing community.

Have you considered holding a one day workshop?

Infrastructure

● Communication infrastructure– The days of the cowboys in Open Source are over.

The community needs defined points of contact.● Some call it bureaucracy

– The public requires the ability to contact specific people for specific purpose. You can not contact “the community”, its too large.

We have experienced exponential growth user group initiations since we added a single point of contact for that task:

PostgreSQL User Group LiaisonSelena Deckelmann [email protected]

Infrastructure part По-русски

● Technological Infrastructure– PostgreSQL.Org has 100% of its infrastructure

donated.

– PostgreSQL.Org infrastructure is global with servers across the United States, South America and Europe.

– The main website (www.postgresql.org) and the primary software distribution points (ftp[n].postgresql.org) are globally mirrored across multiple dozens of hosts.

Infrastructure part drie

● Collaboration– PostgreSQL.Org

● jabber.postgresql.org● #postgresql● #postgresql-us● #postgresql-eu

– Lists:● general, hackers, www, advocacy

– Wiki:● http://wiki.postgresql.org

Goals

The most successful communities, whether commercial, non commercial, organized, or

loosely formed have a mission.

Success stories

In April 2004, Mark Shuttleworth began to round up a small but immensely talented and dedicated group of open source developers to create a revolutionary new Linux desktop. Based on the principles of

time-based releases, a strong Debian foundation, the GNOME desktop, and a strong commitment to freedom, this group operated initially under

the auspices of http://no-name-yet.com.

Ubuntu part δυο

Ubuntu in four years is one of the single most widely distributed Linux distribution in the world to

end users.

And it is free (unlike our #1 competitor)

Can the Elephant do such a thing?

Need you ask?

Goal #1

Expand the community.

Expansion

Add mentoring contacts

Documented contacts for new community members to approach for specific ideas.

Why? Because this is fundamentally a human thing... mailing lists aren't human.

Goal #2

Excellence in technology

Excellence in technology

Most of the features PostgreSQL has added in recent releases are:

“Also has” (SQL/XML)“Fixes for limitations of” (HOT)

It's time to break the mold. What is pushing the boundaries of what we can do? Find that, and do

it.

Goal #3

Make our own path

Make our own pathIt is time for the community to define:

●Hot ●Cool ●Next ●Db 2.0

Yes, I read Wired and Fast company on the plane, twice.

Lastly

● In 2008, an Open Source PosgreSQL distribution will have integrated replication.

● In 2008, you will have the opportunity for free PostgreSQL training.

● In 2008, you will awake to a new world, without dolphins.

● Tomorrow you will be able to ask any question you like from Joshua Drake, Magnus Hagander or Bruce Momjian.