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Joshua D. Drake
April 17, 2019
Since at least 2021 there has been a disagreement between Postgres related non-profit organizations. On one side are two affiliate non-profits for Postgresql.org; on the other is a relatively unknown non-profit out of Spain. Lines have been drawn, feet have dug in, and a lot of unproductive discourse has occurred. This has culminated in legal action, bad blood, and some poor decisions.
As one of the Founders of United States PostgreSQL, a former Director of Software in the Public Interest (one of the NPOs behind Postgresql.org), a former committer (web), former major contributor, President of the oldest PostgreSQL company still independent in North America, and the Founder of Postgres Conference (in the U.S.), I thought I would offer a knowledgeable perspective.
I have had long discussions with one of the primary people within the Fundacion PostgreSQL (Alvaro) and his heart is in the best interest of the community, even if Postgresql.org, PGEU and PGCAC do not agree. You can see this demonstrated within Fundacion’s trademark policy. That said, Fundacion PostgreSQL did go about their actions in an incorrect way. There should have been an open discussion and they should have provided PGCAC the opportunity to resolve the trademark issues on their own. It is also true that while I believe PGEU and PGCAC believe they are protecting the community, if they were interested in positive community growth and collaboration, they would not be taking the approach they currently are. The current path has far reaching implications that PGEU and PGCAC do not see.
Further, the PostgreSQL Community Association of Canada and Fundacion PostgreSQL have resorted to terrible language in representing what is actually going on within the disagreement. Using language such as, “An attack on our community” or “PostgreSQL attacks the community” is immature at best and at worst an intentional decision to use good faith and mindshare against what is largely just a disagreement that could be solved with an active mediator and a few phone calls. If this disagreement is about the best interest of the PostgreSQL community, shouldn’t that involve discourse, honesty, transparency, and kind communication?
Some facts:
- The first appearance of a PostgreSQL trademark outside of Canada wasn’t until 2018.
- The trademark PostgreSQL in the European Union was not registered until 2018.
- The trademark in Canada was registered in 2003 (filed in 1999).
- The trademark in Canada does not accurately represent PostgreSQL as the services it was registered under are:
(1) Internet consulting.
(2) Internet presence provider- DNS hosting.
(3) Commercial internet support for database applications development and implementation including the ability to host internet domains (as an internet service provider) and provide a wide range of web site development, programming and information technology services, namely computer software architecture, design and/or development services.
(4) Computer hardware sales and service.
The solution
The solution to the whole problem is simple; a single contract that states:
- That the term PostgreSQL is trademarked by the PostgreSQL Community Association of Canada
- That the Fundacion PostgreSQL relinquishes all property and rights to the mark PostgreSQL held in Spain and assigns them to the PostgreSQL Community Association of Canada
- The PostgreSQL Community Association of Canada forgoes any punitive damages or secondary costs
- That the Fundacion PostgreSQL forgoes any punitive damages or secondary costs
The contract should not contain language in regards to future potential filings that involve but are not exclusive to the word Postgres or PostgreSQL. There are already a number of filings worldwide that use Postgres or PostgreSQL as part of an overall mark inclusively such as Postgres Pro, Postgres Plus, Postgres Always On and Postgres Enterprise Manager, all of which are not owned but PGCAC or PGEU.
Why forgo punitive damages or secondary costs
Because it is the right thing to do. Otherwise this whole affair is going to end up costing one entity or another way too much money for no purpose. There is no clear distinction on who would legally win, and in either situation the main sufferers are the PostgreSQL community. Let’s have the parties show an act of kindness for the betterment of everyone involved.
Joshua D. Drake
September 05, 2023
We are having yet another PGConf Mini in NYC. The event is scheduled for December 14th, 2017 and Work Bench is hosting:
The event is part of the PGConf Mini series and is free to attend. The PGConf Mini series works directly with user groups and external communities to organize events for the local community. The events are held as a larger meetup style event with networking opportunities and up to 4 presentations. The current agenda for the latest PGConf Mini: NYC is:
Agenda:
• 6:30 - 7:00: Jonathan Katz, (TBD), Postgresql Contributor and PGConf Chair Emeritus
Efficiently and Safely Propagate Data Changes Without Triggers!
Prior to PostgreSQL 9.4, the primary way to distribute data-driven changes across multiple tables was to use triggers. While triggers guarantee that these changes will be propagated, they can have a significant impact application performance, both technically and with development time (see: "debugging"). PostgreSQL 9.4 introduced logical decoding, which provides a way to stream all changes in a database to a consumer. Using a logical decoder, you can read all changes that are made in a table into your programming language of choice to perform many tasks: cache invalidation, data propagation, submitting changes to remote services, and more. Many PostgreSQL drivers, such as psycopg2 and JDBC support the logical replication protocol, which lets you easily stream your database changes to be manipulated using your favorite programming language. This talk will demonstrate how you can setup logical decoding for your application, look at architecture strategies for working with a logical decoder, and look at a case-study that shows how using logical decoding led to a big performance boost over a similar trigger-based system.
• 7:00 - 7:30: Kevin Jernigan, Senior Product Manager, Amazon
Technical Architecture of Postgres Aurora
Amazon Aurora is a cloud-optimized relational database that combines the speed and availability of high-end commercial databases with the simplicity and cost-effectiveness of open source databases. The recently announced PostgreSQL-compatibility, together with the original MySQL compatibility, are perfect for new application development and for migrations from overpriced, restrictive commercial databases. In this session, we’ll do a deep dive into the new architectural model and distributed systems techniques behind Amazon Aurora, discuss best practices and configurations, look at migration options and share customer experience from the field.
• 7:30 - 8:20: Joshua (JD) Drake POSTPONED due to flight cancellation)
The Power of Postgres Replication, Postgres Expert - Lead Consultant Command Prompt, Inc and Co-Chair PGConf!
With PostgreSQL v10 a new replication engine has come to town. Let's explore Postgres Logical Replication, how to use it, optimize it and let it best fit in with your organization. We will also discuss its interactions with external tools as well as Binary Replication and features such as Hot Standby.
You can RSVP at the NYC PostgreSQL Meetup and as always, @amplifypostgres !
Joshua D. Drake
November 20, 2017
We are pleased to announce that PostgresConf 2019 will be held at the Sheraton Times Square March 18th - 22nd, 2019.
Following on the success of PostgresConf 2018, 2019 will include five days with added training and partner summits.
March 18th and 19th will have immersive training. Instructors are encouraged to submit half and full day material for consideration. The preferred topics are centered around Postgres but anything People, Postgres, or Data related will be considered.
Monday, March 18th through Friday, March 22nd will host several partner summits, including popular and upcoming topics within the Postgres community and the annually hosted Regulated Industry Summit. Break out sessions will be held from Wednesday - Friday.
In addition to the partner summits, PostgresConf 2019 will offer multiple program tracks with Postgres related topics including (but not limited to):
- Postgres Internals
- Postgres Administration
- Operations and Development
- Data
- Cloud
- Database Security and Compliance
- Use Cases
- Regulated Industries
- Telecommunications
- Healthcare and life sciences
- Railroad, airline and pipeline transportation
- Oil and gas
- Electric power and transmission
- Financial services and trading
Important Dates:
- Call for Papers Open: 09/12/2018
- Call for Papers Close: 01/11/2019
- Confirmation/Acceptance: 01/18/2019
Can't wait until March? Join us at our West Coast event, PostgresConf Silicon Valley, October 15th and 16th, 2018 at the Hilton San Jose.
About PostgresConf:
PostgresConf is a global nonprofit conference series with a focus on growing community through increased awareness and education of Postgres and related technologies. PostgresConf is known for its highly attended national conference with the mission of:
Joshua D. Drake
September 25, 2018
PGConf US in partnership with the Austin PostgreSQL User Group (AUSPUG) is pleased to announce that the call for papers for PGConf Local: Austin is now open.
AUSTIN, June 28, 2017 -- The inaugural PGConf US Local: Austin Conference (PGConf Austin) will be held November 3 - 4, 2017, at the Norris Conference and Event Center (2525 W. Anderson Ln #365, Austin, TX 78757) located in northwest Austin.
This two day, multi track conference is a perfect opportunity for users, developers, business analysts and enthusiasts from the Southwest to amplify Postgres and participate with the Postgres community.
The Call for Papers for PGConf Austin is now open, and presentation proposals can be submitted at https://pgconf.us/conferences/Austin2017
The call for papers for PGConf Austin will be open until Sunday, August 20, 2017, and speakers will be notified of acceptance/decline no later than Monday, August 28, 2017. Registration for PGConf Austin will also open August 28.
Conference Schedule:
The call for papers for PGConf Austin will be open until Sunday, August 20, 2017, and speakers will be notified of acceptance/decline no later than Monday, August 28, 2017. Registration for PGConf Austin will also open August 28.
Conference Schedule:
- Friday, November 3, 2017: Half-day Trainings with Postgres experts
- Saturday, November 4, 2017: Breakout Sessions (lunch and coffee break provided)
Conference speakers receive complimentary entry to the breakout sessions on November 4 -- the half-day trainings are separately priced sessions. As a nonprofit event series, funding is currently not available for speaker travel and lodging accommodations. Everyone is encouraged to submit a talk or training to the first PGConf supported nonprofit educational events in Texas, and join the growing PostgreSQL community.
Sponsorship Opportunities
PGConf Local series is supported by its generous sponsors, including Diamond Sponsor Amazon Web Services and Platinum Sponsors 2ndQuadrant, Compose, and OpenSCG, as well as Media Sponsor AmplifyPostgres. Business leaders and companies interested in sponsoring PGConf US nonprofit events can view the Conference Prospectus .
About PGConf US:
PGConf US is a nonprofit conference series with a focus on growing the Postgres community through increased awareness and education of Postgres. PGConf US is known for its highly attended national conference held in Jersey City, New Jersey, each year, and has expanded to a local series for 2017.
The PGConf Local series partners with local Postgres and open source groups to bring dynamic and engaging Postgres related content and professional training experience to their local communities in major metroplexes. 2017 host cities include Philadelphia, Seattle, and Austin, as well as Internationally in South Africa with more locations to follow.
Media Contact: organizers@pgconf.us
Joshua D. Drake
June 28, 2017
Join the PostgreSQL community in Philadelphia on July 13th and 14th 2017 for two days of fantastic PostgreSQL content. July 13th will contain trainings and July 14th will be breakout sessions. The call for papers and sponsors is also open! When submitting papers to PGConf US events, please review the presentation guidelines.
PGConf US Local events are designed to bring comprehensive educational content and networking opportunities to the "local" PostgreSQL community where the event is being held. They are perfect opportunities to show support for PostgreSQL, find leads and build relationships with other professionals and companies using and support PostgreSQL.
Joshua D. Drake
May 08, 2017
Why did you attend PgConf US?
We have been looking for high quality, experienced, professional support for our application’s database for some time. We have found it difficult to find help online… seemingly every phone number we called was just an answering service. When we heard that the companies offering the level of service we were looking for were all available in the same place, we couldn’t resist.Tell us a little bit (one or two paragraphs) about your project:
Our project (VX and VO collectively named Victor) is a SaaS solution for 911 emergency response systems. Victor provides analytics and quality assurance tools and services, enabling agencies to assess performance, measure resource & deployment activity, model demand, optimize workload, and even generate financial estimates. For more information see our website.Why did you chose PostgreSQL for your project?
Victor requires both time and spacial awareness, along with all the other things that are expected from an RDBMS. PostgreSQL is stable, secure, mature, well documented, open source, actively developed, community supported, and generally bad ass. The choice was easy.As I understand it, attending PgConf US was a last minute decision. Do you think it was worth it? If so, why?
Absolutely! Our objective was to meet with vendors who were able to provide high quality support and we were successful. Additionally, we met a ton of super geniuses (Paragon, TimescaleDB, I’m talking about you) and learned more then expected. For example, we had no idea we could put raster images in PostgreSQL and process them with PostGIS… amazing!Would you attend PgConf US again?
Yes… see above. Unrelated, but unbelievably cool, we met a guy named Solar… a PhD (from MIT!) passionate about carbon nanotubes.Are you interested in contributing to the community and if so, in what fashion?
Yes! …and here is our biggest piece of feedback.It would be great if there was a clear point of entry for people like us… we have been using PostgreSQL for several years, have been through several upgrade cycles (we started on 9.0) and have no idea how our skills could be of use. We make SaaS applications, but make nothing in C. What else does the community need? How can we help?
Joshua D. Drake
April 19, 2017
Community,
The Chairs of PGConf US have rescheduled the Seattle and Austin Local events. After much deliberation we believe moving the events to a weekday format later in the year will offer a better opportunity for those who wish to attend.
New dates:
The CFP for Seattle is closed but Austin is still open!
People, Postgres, Data
Joshua D. Drake
August 08, 2017
Seattle Postgres and People, Postgres, Data were present at the 20th Anniversary Event of LinuxFest Northwest this weekend! The “Fest” is a conference built around Free and Open Source Software, taking place in Bellingham, Washington. It is a true gathering of over 2000 Open Source practitioners. There was also a well attended Postgres Track and an “Ask the experts” panel.
Highlighted Find
Also at LinuxFest Northwest was YottaDB. YottaDB uses the PostgreSQL wire protocol to allow universal driver access to their in-memory transactional database. This has become a popular way to utilize the maturity of the PostgreSQL code base and reduce overhead in having to maintain a protocol and drivers.
Ecosystem Content
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What is high cardinality, and how do time-series databases like InfluxDB and TimescaleDB compare?
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11 Things to Know about Databases and Postgres in Containers
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PostgreSQL security: a quick look at authentication best practices [Tutorial]
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Distributed PostgreSQL on a Google Spanner Like Architecture - Storage Layer
Requesting Feedback
We are looking for good dates to host PostgresConf Philly in July/August 2019 and we are actively reviewing new markets for other Postgres Conference events including Texas, Vancouver B.C., and Seattle. If you have feedback on opportunities in these areaa including dates, venues, or a desire to join the amazing People, Postgres, Data team, let us know at organizers@postgresconf.org.
Noteworthy Commits & Releases
The PostgreSQL git repo was largely bug fixes and updates the past couple of weeks but we have some great releases including migration tools and Distributed SQL:
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Yugabyte v1.2.4 (Apr 02, 2019), Distributed SQL
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Postgres Checkup 1.0, Automate checking on Postgres health
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PgCLI v2.1.0, A feature-full command line client for Postgres
Join our community
Upcoming Events
People, Postgres, Data and The World’s Database
The World’s Database celebrates all of Postgres, including whichever version, fork, or hybrid used to build yourself, your business, or your hobby. We have Open and Closed Source technologies. We have amazing extensions (TimescaleDB), unique implementations (Yugabyte), and respected forks to solve specific problems such as Greenplum, Azure, and Aurora. We have meetups where professionals can gather to collaborate and network in all major U.S. markets. Most importantly we are an inclusive community celebrating everything surrounding the maturity, extensibility, and growth of the Postgres ecosystem.
Joshua D. Drake
April 29, 2019
Andreas Scherbaum recently tweeted, “Speakers: it is NOT OK to even consider drinking alcohol during a talk! No matter how complicated your talk topic is.” The tweet has caused an interesting debate on Twitter and Facebook. It also caused me to run a poll via @amplifypostgres on the matter.
At the time of this writing almost 70% of the votes on the poll either don’t care or don’t think it is unprofessional for a presenter to drink alcohol while presenting.
One of the counter arguments to presenters consuming alcohol during presentations is that when you are presenting you are representing the conference. The conference wants you to be professional and create an environment that represents that during your talk. Fair enough, but why is it unprofessional?
This sequence of events has me wondering: what is professionalism in reference to presenting at Postgres Conferences? It is certainly not appropriate to be intoxicated while presenting at a professional conference, but that isn’t the question. The question is: why is it inappropriate for an adult to make a legal choice to take a nip or sip beer (or wine) during a presentation? Why is that more unprofessional than not wearing a tie or button up shirt, or wearing shorts or a kilt?
Professionalism is subjective.
“In my opinion, my obligations to the audience are:
- I must care about the content.
- I must deliver what I say I will deliver.
- I must be honest with the audience about my level of experience in the subject.
- I must be honest about my opinions on the subject.
- I must be a genuine version of me, minus the swearing.”
I fail at “minus the swearing” but the rest are spot on and should be our focus.
If you do not want presenters to consume alcohol during their presentations, then add it to your Code of Conduct. If it’s not in your Code of Conduct, then let adults take responsibility for themselves and present the best content possible for our community, in whatever way necessary.
Rock on and @amplifypostgres!
Disclaimer: I am writing this opinion as a frequent presenter, not as the Co-Chair of the most electrifying Postgres Conference in the world.
Joshua D. Drake
October 27, 2017