25 years of contributing to Postgres with Peter Eisentraut | Talking Postgres Ep43
How does a fix for psql tab completion turn into 25 years of contributing to Postgres? In Episode 43 of Talking Postgres, Peter Eisentraut—PostgreSQL committer, core team member, SQL standards contributor, and Chief Architect of Database Servers at EDB—joins Claire to trace that journey. We dig into how scratch-your-own-itch development drew him in, why “the things you do, people welcome them” kept him coming back, and how Postgres changed as it grew from a small database community into a massive ecosystem where, from the Postgres mailing list perspective, “most of the user base is silent.” Plus: what it feels like when code you commit goes straight to everybody who uses Postgres, and the implications of the EU Cyber Resilience Act.Chapters:
⏩ 00:00 Intro & music
⏩ 02:14 Tinkering with the Commodore 64
⏩ 07:57 The itch that became psql tab completion
⏩ 15:43 Had to make opportunities
⏩ 23:05 From posting at night to posting during the day
⏩ 24:40 Why he stopped committing in the afternoon
⏩ 28:04 On the ground floor of something that grew
⏩ 30:34 What the Postgres core team actually does
⏩ 31:47 Borrowing ideas from other OSS projects
⏩ 36:51 Bringing Postgres into the SQL standards process
⏩ 38:40 Getting to hang out with database nerds
⏩ 42:01 Mentoring Postgres contributors
⏩ 50:56 Making time for Postgres conferences
⏩ 53:35 What the Cyber Resilience Act means for Postgres
⏩ 57:36 Where are all the Postgres users?
⏩ 1:07:00 Becoming a committer early on in Postgres
⏩ 1:16:22 Contributing to Postgres isn't just writing code
⏩ 1:19:40 Why FOSDEM is still his favorite
⏩ 1:22:15 Finding familiar problems in a compiler devroom
⏩ 1:26:14 Shout-out to the Planet Postgres feed
📜 Full transcript available at: https://talkingpostgres.com/episodes/25-years-of-contributing-to-postgres-with-peter-eisentraut/transcript
✅ Listen to more episodes of Talking Postgres:
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Previously on Talking Postgres:
🔹 Talking Postgres podcast Ep24: Why mentor Postgres developers with Robert Haas: https://youtu.be/4wSDnx8di6o
🔹 Talking Postgres podcast Ep26: Open Source Leadership with Bruce Momjian: https://youtu.be/gYG3FP-Csho
🔹 Talking Postgres podcast Ep32: The Fundamental Interconnectedness of All Things with Boriss Mejías: https://youtu.be/S63usJYcw-k
More Links mentioned in this episode:
🔹 FOSDEM 2027: https://fosdem.org/2027/
🔹 FOSDEM PGDay 2027 announcement on LinkedIn: https://lnkd.in/p/g_4YQjQn
🔹 Prague PostgreSQL Developers Day (P2D2): https://p2d2.cz/en/
🔹 PGDay Lowlands 2026 (the friendliest): https://2026.pgday.nl/
🔹 PGConf EU 2026 happening in Valencia on 20-23 October: https://2026.pgconf.eu/
🔹 What does the EU Cyber Resilience Act mean for PostgreSQL and its community: https://www.postgresql.eu/events/pgconfeu2026/schedule/session/7970-what-does-the-eu-cyber-resilience-act-mean-for-postgresql-and-its-community/
🔹 Wikipedia: EU Cyber Resilience Act: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyber_Resilience_Act
🔹 PGConf.dev LinkedIn account: https://www.linkedin.com/company/pgconf-dev/
🔹 Conference talk at PGConf.dev: Committer Review: An Exercise in Paranoia by Robert Haas: https://youtu.be/3M8E_z1y_J0
🔹 PostgreSQL committers: https://www.postgresql.org/developer/committers/
🔹 PostgreSQL 19 release management team: https://www.postgresql.org/message-id/acFer0Clq8CIVWB7%40nathan
🔹 Peter Eisentraut Blog: https://peter.eisentraut.org/
🔹 Where are all the PostgreSQL users, by Peter Eisentraut: https://peter.eisentraut.org/blog/2024/12/10/where-are-all-the-postgresql-users
🔹 PostgreSQL Community Association (PGCA) non-profit that protects the trademarks: https://www.postgres.ca/
🔹 Brett Cannon at PyCon 2014 with quote “I came for the language but I stayed for the community”: https://youtu.be/L_LLYTm-QnM?t=1011
🔹 Planet PostgreSQL Blog feed: https://planet.postgresql.org/
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