Posted Tuesday Jul 26th, 2011 10:31am
by Joshua Drake | Permalink
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Alright, so they aren't really new directions. Command Prompt has been submitting features to .Org for a long time, we have also been a large generator of content through activity on the mailing lists, the publicly available (if outdated) Practical PostgreSQL and not to mention all the content we provide through the PostgreSQL Conference site. However, with all of these things it is easy to get lost in the mire and slowly forget doing what you are good at.
As a team I would like to think that CMD is really good at serving the community, serving its customers, and taking care of each other. However, when you reach out of your expertise and try something new it can fail and come back to bite you. CMD for the last two years tried that, we changed our model. We started listening to companies that have a different model than we did. We felt that we could learn from their success and possibly have some better fortunes of our own. What we learned was that although there was some good information to be had (and we have used that information), the model that was being dictated to us was not the model that would allow CMD to be more successful. We also learned that their model, wasn't nearly as successful as they lead people to believe.
One of the things that I love about the .Org business community is that we look out for each other. 2ndQuadrant, Consistent State, PgExperts, Credativ, OmniTI, and CMD (and a host of others, no offense guys). We actively seek ways to work with each other when we can, we lead exchange, we send people to other companies we know are good companies if we can't help a customer, we don't swipe customers (purposely, sometimes things happen) . There is a certain, comfortable quid pro quo. No matter the differences that Josh Berkus, Simon Riggs, Robert Treat, Kevin Kempter or and I may have on list, it is purely professional and at any point we will get together and have beer when we are at a conference or other event. We all have similar goals and they are, grow PostgreSQL, grow our companies and take care of our families (probably not in that order).
Although CMD never stopped working with these community partners, we did lose focus through trying to become a more dominant player. It is natural to see opportunity and be slightly blinded by it. To have someone hold out their hand and say, "We know a better way, wink, wink", and think, "Hey maybe they do, let's see where this goes.". In our case, we found the way wasn't better and the way was really smoke and mirrors. This could very well be our fault. Frankly, we were blinded by opportunity that never arose and like many others in this community I am as stubborn as a mule. I just refused to adjust pace before now.
I am strong in my convictions and I have beliefs in the way business should be done. CMD is going back to that. Those beliefs are founded on well over a decade of running this company in a manner that has assured that no team member has ever missed a paycheck including myself, that our debt has always been minimal if at all and that our communications with customers are upfront, honest and to the point. In case you hadn't noticed, we also don't employ sales teams.
So what does all this really mean? Well for one, CMD has introduced the Google Policy. This means that every technical person in the company can spend 20% of their time on community work and sometimes that will be more. In the case of Alvaro, we have successfully received sponsorship for the rest of the Foreign Key Locks patch and he is currently spending more than 20% time on community work for example. If all goes well, we will continue to be sponsored to write features, modules and other PostgreSQL based software. We have been sponsored to do quite a bit of it lately.
It also means that we will be attempting to reinvigorate our cross community relationships, although most of our relationships are solid I feel that not all of them have flourished the way they should. I would like to see those relationships stronger so we can continue to move .Org forward. With stronger relationships in the commercial satisfies the pre-requisite for future growth of the software community. Companies need to know they have someone to call, someone that will treat them right, someone they can trust to implement whatever it is they need with PostgreSQL. If those relationships are strong, any one of us can make sure we get those needs served, either by doing the work ourselves or handing it off to a more suitable candidate.
In short it means, more patches, more patch review, more sponsored work and hopefully more intermingling of like interests between PostgreSQL companies. That is one of the goals behind PostgreSQL Conference West raising funds for feature development. We want to continue to have PgWest (and PgEast) be a central place where community and commercial can get together and celebrate the common goals of PostgreSQL.
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Posted Wednesday Jul 13th, 2011 09:48am
by Joshua Drake | Permalink
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As the primary organizer of The PostgreSQL Conference series, Command Prompt has been trying to find ways to continue to support the PostgreSQL Community. The Conference is already the highest direct financial contributor but the money isn't always what the community needs. The documentation may need some work (pg_dump section I am looking at you), we might want server to execute performance testing or there are features that the community wants developed.
A recurring question in our community is, "How do I get feature X sponsored?". It is a frustrating question because there are many variables that are at play anytime you do development within an Open Source project. Just because you can develop the feature doesn't mean that the community actually wants the feature. There is also the problem of raising money for a feature, a lot of very skilled hackers do not have the contacts or frankly person skills to "sell" their idea. Once you have the money even more problems arise, what if you underbid the project? What if you can't get everyone to pay that said they would? What if you miss a commit deadline and you have to wait for the next release to start development? The list goes on and on.
The traditional method of getting a feature developed would be to contact a company to do so. There are many people and companies that are used to working in the community, who know how to navigate the shark infested waters and are actively willing to work with you to get whatever feature done. Two of the most well known companies that do this are Command Prompt (duh moment), and 2ndQuadrant. We both have had much of the feature development we do for PostgreSQL sponsored by our customers (some of them, mutual customers). If you have a feature that you wish to get developed I highly recommend contacting one of us.
The traditional method can be too much for a single entity to bare. If you have a feature that is 15,000 USD to develop, that just might be out of the budget of the sponsoring company and it is certainly out of the budget of most individuals. In some communities there is a bounty system where multiple entities can chose to donate to get a bug squashed or a feature developed. Unfortunately, bounties can go on forever and very little money is normally raised. So what do you do?
The PostgreSQL Conference organizers team had an idea. What if, we take one of the resources we are rich in and use that resource in a manner that allows the community as a whole to benefit. What is this resource you might ask? Well people of course. Every 6 months the PostgreSQL Conference pulls more people into a single room than any other PostgreSQL event. What if the PostgreSQL Conference worked out a way to get those people to part with their hard earned dollars to get a feature developed? Imagine, one night instead of pub crawling if we put that 50.00, 100.00 or 250.00 to work for the betterment of PostgreSQL?
If every person that attended #PgEast gave 100.00 to feature development, we would have raised $23,000 dollars. That would have more than paid for the ALTER TABLE ALTER COLUMN work that Command Prompt would like to develop. So that is what we are going to do at #PgWest. This year at #PgWest there will be up to 5 proposals on the table to sponsor. Only one will be from Command Prompt, we would like the others to be from other developers and companies are welcome to submit as well. Further, #PgWest will also be donating a portion of the registration fees to get these features developed.
Stay tuned for how to submit your proposals.
PostgreSQL Conference West Call for Papers
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Posted Tuesday Jul 12th, 2011 04:31pm
by Joshua Drake | Permalink
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Today, Netflix upped its rates. It was not an excessive increase (dollar wise) but it was enough to get some masses frothing at the mouth [1]. Here is the deal folks, Netflix is cheap, really cheap. It is so cheap that their selection is dwindling as their contracts become due. To get even close to the equivalent service from a cable company you would be looking at upward of 100.00 per month. Netflix is asking for 16.00 and frankly should be asking for 30.00 a month. So please, quit your whining. The only people sympathetic to your cause are the people that will pull the half full soda from the fast food trash to sneak another sip.
In reading this article I reminded of First World Problems.
1. http://technolog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/07/12/7069809-thousands-threaten-to-quit-netflix
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Posted Wednesday Jul 6th, 2011 09:56am
by Joshua Drake | Permalink
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OK, I am just trying to set the record straight. People are still confused thinking I might not be going to #PgWest, but I am. I know where the confusion comes from; there are a few other conferences going on during that time frame but the only two that matter are #PgWest and Surge. So, to be clear, I will be going to #PGWest this year not Surge. Also, to be clear, it's not that I have anything against Surge. I've have never gone to Surge but I have heard nothing but good things about the conference and I suspect I'll probably go to Surge in the future. It's just that this year, I've got something better to go to. That something is #PgWest.
What is #PgWest?
The theme for #PgWest is:
"Next Generation Data"
PostgreSQL Conference West is designed to get you up to speed on how to use the data existing already locked in your organization and cope with the massive amounts of data that is coming. Our industry today is at a major inflection point with Cloud Computing, Big Data, and GeoSpatial all converging into fascatining new architecture resulting in amazing new applications. The existing advanced features and some truely innovative features in PostgreSQL 9.1 will allow PostgreSQL to be the foundation of these new architectures.
#PgWest is the PostgreSQL West Coast conference (thus #PgWest) and it happens every year in the fall. Last year we held it in November, normally we hold it in October. This year, we are really close to October at September 27th - 30th in San Jose. #PgWest is also the single largest contributor of educational materials as well as the single largest direct financial contributor to the PostgreSQL community. If you are working with PostgreSQL, #PgWest is where you want to be in September, maybe. #PgWest is the largest PostgreSQL Conference in the United States and will continue to be as we experience easy double digit (not 10%, think 30% - 50%) growth every time we hold it.
Why should you go to Surge?
Surge, from all reports, rocks. It is a great conference full of very smart, fun people who are there for solutions to problems, not minutia political babble. If you want to go to Surge, go to Surge and I guarantee you, it will be worth your time and conference dollars.
Why are you telling me to go to Surge?
Surge is an annual East Coast conference, if you are torn between going to #PgWest and Surge, wait for #PgEast next March. The PostgreSQL Conference is a semi-annual conference with one conference #PgWest on the West coast and one #PgEast on the East coast. By the time Surge and #PgWest happen, #PgEast will only be six months away. I want Surge to be successful. If Surge was on the West coast, I would be reaching out to the Surge folks and trying to share facilities to save costs for everyone.
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