How I got started in Postgres with Magnus Hagander | Talking Postgres Ep45

Magnus Hagander’s lucky break with Postgres: getting to have his job be his hobby, and his hobby be his job. In Episode 45 of Talking Postgres, Magnus—PostgreSQL committer, core team member, chair of PostgreSQL Europe, and longtime PGConf.EU organizer—walks Claire through how he got started in Postgres in the late 90s. We dig into porting the Postgres database server to Windows across three time zones, being told the project was doomed unless it moved to SourceForge (ha!), and why it’s harder to become a Postgres committer today. Of course we talk about the conferences he helps run: PGConf.EU, Nordic PGDay, and FOSDEM PGDay 2027. Plus: his first patch (one line, and it doesn’t carry his name) and why you shouldn’t have an AI agent write your patch.

Chapters:
⏩ 00:00 Intro & music
⏩ 03:13 The internet showed up
⏩ 09:36 A one-line patch so Postgres would compile on Linux
⏩ 12:53 Porting Postgres to Windows across 3 continents
⏩ 18:32 PostgreSQL Europe was founded at FOSDEM
⏩ 25:06 If that's our biggest mistake, we're doing fine
⏩ 28:47 First Nordic PGDay: booked for 50, got 100
⏩ 33:11 Trying a smaller Nordic event in Gothenburg
⏩ 38:31 Self-hosting Postgres infrastructure
⏩ 47:19 Battling AI agents that ignore robots.txt
⏩ 50:25 From a bar in a city wall to 750 attendees
⏩ 56:26 Announcing the next PGConf.EU location
⏩ 58:22 The lucky break: when my hobby became my job
⏩ 1:00:24 What keeps Magnus coming back to Postgres
⏩ 1:02:26 It’s harder to become a committer today
⏩ 1:09:15 Don't just have an AI agent write your patch

📜 Full transcript available at: https://talkingpostgres.com/episodes/how-i-got-started-in-postgres-with-magnus-hagander/transcript

✅ Listen to more episodes of Talking Postgres:
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Previously on Talking Postgres:
🔹 Talking Postgres Ep20 with Tom Lane: https://youtu.be/Zcguwxywa_o
🔹 Talking Postgres Ep19 with Melanie Plageman: https://youtu.be/X7Pr5c5Kbe0

Links mentioned in this episode:
🔹 PostgreSQL Europe non-profit Board of Directors: https://www.postgresql.eu/about/board/
More Links mentioned in this episode:
🔹 PostgreSQL Anniversary Summit in Toronto on 8-9 Jul 2006: https://www.postgresql.org/about/event/postgresql-anniversary-summit-351/
🔹 Video of talk at PGConf.dev 2025 by Magnus Hagander: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWZwaL3Bz6A
🔹 Who serves on the Postgres sysadmin team: https://speakerdeck.com/clairegiordano/behind-the-postgres-18-major-release-an-analysis-of-contributions-claire-giordano-fosdem-pgday-2026?slide=46
🔹 Video of keynote at first POSETTE (then called Citus Con) by Magnus Hagander: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rz6XvfqNa7Q
🔹 Tom Lane's 2006 email on the name PostgreSQL: https://www.postgresql.org/message-id/2693.1152762174@sss.pgh.pa.us
🔹 PostgreSQL Development Discord: https://discord.gg/bx2G9KWyrY
🔹 PGConf.EU 2026 in Valencia: https://2026.pgconf.eu/
🔹 FOSDEM 2027 in Brussels on 30 & 31 Jan 2027: https://fosdem.org/2027/
🔹 Two days this time: FOSDEM PGDay 2027, on 28 & 29 Jan 2027: https://2027.fosdempgday.org/
🔹 Nordic PGDay 2027 in Stockholm on 16 Mar 2027: https://2027.nordicpgday.org/
🔹 PGConf.dev 2027 in Montréal on 11-14 May 2027: https://2027.pgconf.dev/
🔹 POSETTE: An Event for Postgres 2027, happening 30 & 31 Mar 2027: https://posetteconf.com/2027/
🔹 SCaLE 24x in Pasadena, happening 1-4 Apr 2027: https://www.socallinuxexpo.org/scale/24x

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