From Oracle DBA to Postgres contributor with Karen Jex | Talking Postgres Ep44
Who knew an aptitude test could recommend a career as a DBA—and get it right? In Episode 44 of Talking Postgres, PostgreSQL significant contributor Karen Jex walks Claire through her path from Oracle DBA to Postgres consultant, solution architect, and now senior software engineer at Snowflake. My favorite bits: a project switched to Postgres when nobody knew how to install it, faking it as the Postgres expert, and the culture shock of building your own HA and backups. Plus: the warm welcome at PGConf EU 2019 that pulled Karen into the Postgres community; the new Buddy Program at PGConf EU 2026; and moving to the French Alps for the love of mountain biking.Chapters:
⏩ 00:00 Intro & music
⏩ 01:55 Becoming a DBA completely by accident
⏩ 05:46 "You're the database expert. You can figure it out."
⏩ 12:37 Leaving Oracle, where everything comes bundled
⏩ 17:23 From DBA to helping other DBAs
⏩ 21:48 The PGDay France meeting that opened up the community
⏩ 28:02 Why Django developers love Postgres
⏩ 34:36 Stepping back to be close to home
⏩ 43:54 "When I grow up, I want to be a DBA," said no one ever
⏩ 51:42 How much should you delegate to AI agents?
⏩ 59:22 Thirty five buddy pairings at PGConf EU
📜 Full transcript available at: https://talkingpostgres.com/episodes/from-oracle-dba-to-postgres-contributor-with-karen-jex/transcript
✅ Listen to more episodes of Talking Postgres:
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Previously on Talking Postgres:
🔹 Talking Postgres podcast Ep39: From MemSQL to HorizonDB, an engineer's journey with Adam Prout: https://youtu.be/dsyWz6tcfh0
🔹 Talking Postgres podcast Ep42: How AI is changing software development with Simon Willison: https://youtu.be/IrHaLMO96jg
More Links mentioned in this episode:
🔹 PGConf.EU 2026 happening in Valencia on 20-23 October: https://2026.pgconf.eu/
🔹 Save the date for POSETTE: An Event for Postgres 2027, happening 30 & 31 March 2027: https://posetteconf.com/
🔹 Two days this time: FOSDEM PGDay 2027, happening 28 & 29 January 2027: https://2027.fosdempgday.org/
🔹 PGConf.dev 2027 in Montréal: https://2027.pgconf.dev/
🔹 PG Day France: https://pgday.fr/
🔹 PGConf India 2027, happening on 2-5 March 2027: https://pgconf.in/
🔹 EuroPython 2026: https://ep2026.europython.eu/
🔹 Conference talk at PGConf.EU 2026: Tuning Postgres for Analytics by Karen Jex: https://www.postgresql.eu/events/pgconfeu2026/schedule/session/8153-tuning-postgres-for-analytics/
🔹 DjangoCon Europe 2024 keynote: When I Grow Up I Want to be a Database Administrator by Karen Jex: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4JWRmPNENs
🔹 Karen Jex's POSETTE speaker page, with videos of her talks: https://posetteconf.com/speakers/karen-jex/
🔹 Conference talk at PGConf.EU 2023: Elephant in a nutshell - Navigating the Postgres community 101 by Valeria Kaplan: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kCIVYiZhZhc
🔹 Slides from FOSDEM 2020: Fibonacci Spirals and 21 Ways to Contribute to Postgres—Beyond Code by Claire Giordano: https://speakerdeck.com/clairegiordano/fibonacci-spirals-and-21-ways-to-contribute-to-postgres-beyond-code-fosdem-20-postgres-devroom
🔹 PostgreSQL contributor profiles: https://www.postgresql.org/community/contributors/
🔹 PostgreSQL Europe board: https://www.postgresql.eu/about/board/
🔹 PostgreSQL 19 release notes: https://www.postgresql.org/docs/19/release-19.html
🔹 Wispr Flow voice dictation: https://wisprflow.ai/about
🔹 FluidVoice voice dictation: https://fluidvoice.com/
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