Where Else Can You Talk to the People Who Built It?
I sat down with Robert Treat — Principal Database Engineer at Amazon Web Services (AWS) and a longtime PostgreSQL contributor — to talk about how people actually find their way into open source. One story he told stuck with me.
🎧 Listen to the full conversation:
After Robert asked a question online about PHP, three people answered different solutions. He tried them, and they all failed – obviously, they were all wrong. Then the author of PHP, Rasmus Lerdorf, answered later, showing him his real problem and the solution. That was his aha moment:
"Where are you gonna get that kind of access to the people who are behind the code? … If this is what open source is about, then count me in."
One of the unique kinds of access you can have in the open source community – rare in other places – is that the authors and major contributors of the projects are on the frontline: answering questions, talking with community members, listening to feedback, and helping people grow into being part of the group.
Having been in the open source community for a few years, I've slowly realized how lucky I am to talk with so many smart people who have been in the field for years. In open source, people often say our contributors are aging, greying. That is a real concern, but that also means participating in open source means collaborating with people who have decades of experience and knowledge. Where else can you have access to these hackers?
Of course, not every open source project works the same. Sometimes you ask a question, and no one replies. If the PHP author had not jumped in to answer Robert's question, he might have thought "that's why open source doesn't work" and moved away from it. So, if you are interested in participating, try different projects; you'll probably have different experiences. Don't be discouraged by one buried message or one rejected pull request – know that there are so many different people in the community, and this one interaction cannot represent the whole group.
Remember, open source is an open community – that means everyone is welcome (as long as you don't break the code of conduct). It also means there are all kinds of people: people who are kind, who are patient, who are straightforward, who speak English as their second language and talk with you across the earth, across cultures. It's easy to misunderstand when we only talk online. On top of that, most people in the community are volunteers, using their evenings and weekends for community work. Delay and slowness are not unexpected. I tend to think people generally have good intentions but may be bad at expressing themselves. That reminds us to be patient, tolerant, and open-minded; after all, how much can you really know about a person from the few lines they type on the internet?
That's what makes in-person events essential. Someone who started his open source journey in 1994 told me that talking with people online was hard initially. But after his first in-person event, he got to know people in the community as a person, learning their character, then he understood why they talked the way they did online, and communication became much easier after that. He felt people became nicer after the in-person connection.
I was laughing at Robert's answer to my question – what made you want to go back to hands-on work after being a CEO and going through an acquisition? He said: that's the PostgreSQL community, it's hard to get rid of. I couldn't help but laugh because someone said a similar thing to me. It sounds like a complaint about being stuck here in PostgreSQL – but it's also a sweet bond that makes you willingly tied to it. Why? I think it ties closely to the servant leadership the early PostgreSQL leaders demonstrated – the idea of how to best serve the group and the community. Bruce Momjian, a co-founder of the Postgres core team, gave a heartfelt speech at pgconf.dev this year, in which he said: "The thing that makes the Postgres community endure, grow, and eventually become the best database is that everyone adopts the attitude of service and looks for ways to contribute." And it's not just words – if you look at his website, you'll be amazed by his effort in sharing knowledge and growing the community.
I found many leaders in PostgreSQL community are like Bruce, they think about serving the community, they want to bring you into their PostgreSQL journey, and not just as a spectator. That's a sincerity that's hard to reject. Not everyone believes in the power of the community and is willing to build up a community. However, many PostgreSQL leaders do! They believe the community is the source of innovation and the insurance of continuity. They don't have to worry about the project beyond their own time, but they want to. They want to make sure it can still stand decades from now, in good shape. So, they welcome and encourage everyone who is exploring the project to go deeper and further!
Open source underpins the digital world that connects people all over. So, the little good we do online is amplified. Robert said his proudest moments are when people send him a note saying, "thank you for the things you built years ago – I was inspired, and now I've been contributing for years." The feeling of having a positive impact on someone is amazing. Will there be frustration in the community? I am sure there is. The xz backdoor (2024) was an extreme example – a solo maintainer was manipulated into handing over permissions to people with bad intentions, leading to serious security issues. So, the little good we do online is amplified – and so can the bad, unfortunately.
I hope we can participate in open source with a neutral mind – no pressure to prove you are smart, or that you are a hero by dedicating yourself to contributing, but also no fear that you will be ashamed or attacked. Open source is there to help you solve your problem as a user; to let you collaborate with others on a project, and to help you feel you belong in a community. I once asked an Apache Beam author: what is the best funnel for contributors? He said the best is when power users start to contribute. So, use it, and join the events and presentations you can find.
Just start.
Looking forward to seeing you somewhere, sometime, soon!
P.S. – Here is the interview video, and I am organizing the PostgreSQL meetup in NYC – meetup.com/postgres-nyc. Find me on LinkedIn.