Fibonacci Spirals and Ways to Contribute to Postgres—Beyond Code | Giordano | Citus Con: An Event for Postgres 2022

Postgres is growing like gangbusters: in popularity, in adoption, and in the size of the ecosystem. And over 650 developers contribute code to Postgres: their expertise, dedication, and skill are big factors in the increasing popularity of Postgres. But what if you’re not a developer: are there things you can do to help the Postgres community? Or what if you are a developer, and you love this project, and you want to do even more: are there non-code ways to contribute to Postgres?

In this virtual presentation from Citus Con: An Event for Postgres in 2022, I updated version of the kickoff talk I gave in the PostgreSQL devroom at FOSDEM 2020. This Citus Con talk walks you through 18 important ways you can contribute to Postgres, beyond code—along with tips and resources for getting started. Many of these contributions apply equally well to other open source projects, too.

Video of the presentation is available on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lkRUy6BBiU0

Transcript

1. @clairegiordano FIBONACCI SPIRALS & WAYS TO CONTRIBUTE TO POSTGRES—BEYOND CODE Claire Giordano @clairegiordano • @citusdata • @AzureDBPostgres
2. @clairegiordano Leonardo Pisano Bigollo (1170–1240) Source: Wikimedia Commons [Public Domain]
3. @clairegiordano 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89... FIBONACCI SEQUENCE Source: Wikimedia Commons [Public Domain]
4. @clairegiordano 2 3 5 8 13 21 What do Fibonacci spirals have to do with contributing to Postgres? 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, …
5. @clairegiordano
6. @clairegiordano
7. @clairegiordano @clairegiordano WAYS TO CONTRIBUTE TO POSTGRES— BEYOND CODE
8. @clairegiordano Why ”Beyond Code”? What if… you’re not a developer? @clairegiordano
9. @clairegiordano Josh Berkus gave a similar talk in ~2013 Source: Josh Berkus on GitHub: https://jberkus.github.io/pdf_presos/50_ways.pdf
10. @clairegiordano This is how Josh drew ”Contribution Pie” in 2013
11. @clairegiordano Why Beyond Code? Just like racing sailboats Every person in the crew—every role—matters Source: Livestream of Rolex Big Boats Racing Series, Sep 2021 (my son is on the crew!)
12. @clairegiordano 18 Ways to Contribute to Postgres—Beyond Code 1. Write 2. Give a Talk 3. Write a book 4. Video 5. Outreach to other dev communities 6. User stories 7. Promote, tweet too 8. Run & support Meetups 9. Organize a PG event 10. Shine light on others 11. Report bugs 12. User testing of stuff 13. Translations 14. Doc feedback 15. Stickers 16. Design skills 17. #sketchnotes 18. Welcome people in, & answer lots of questions @clairegiordano
13. @clairegiordano Share learnings & expertise Shine light on value of Postgres 1 Write a blog post Publish an article
14. @clairegiordano 1 Syndicate to Planet Postgres • to increase reach of your posts • @planetpostgres on Twitter, too
15. @clairegiordano Share your expertise—give a talk Source: fosdem.org/2020 2
16. @clairegiordano @clairegiordano CLAIRE15 ~ a 15% off discount on any edition Source: theartofpostgresql.com 3 Write a Book make it easier for newcomers to use Postgres
17. @clairegiordano Write a Book make it easier for newcomers to use Postgres @clairegiordano Source: sql-performance-explained.com 3
18. @clairegiordano 4 @clairegiordano Use Video to show what Postgres can do Some people learn better via video Source: aka.ms/how-citus-distributes-postgres
19. @clairegiordano 4 Good video metadata will help your video get discovered don’t forget to use meaningful keywords in the filename! Thumbnail Description 3 hashtags Bookmarks Links Chapters Title
20. @clairegiordano Outreach to your other dev communities 5 Source: Louise Grandjonc talk at DjangoCon US YouTube, DjangoCon 2019
21. @clairegiordano Interview your users & tell their stories • Story • Headlines • Diagrams • Big Metrics • “Pull quotes” 6
22. @clairegiordano Interview your users & tell their stories • ~77.9K views • aka.ms/blog-ukcovid19- dashboard-citus 6 Example: Co-authored post w/ Pouria Hadjibagheri of UKHSA on implementation of UK COVID-19 dashboard
23. @clairegiordano 7 If you build it, they will NOT come. PROMOTE.
24. @clairegiordano Promote on Twitter learnings, ideas, talks, meetups, TIL, QOTD, OH, how-to 7
25. @clairegiordano Promote on Twitter new events, too! 7
26. @clairegiordano 26 Source: @PostgreSQLNL, @OptimaDataBV z Run, host, & support local meetups 8
27. @clairegiordano Organize a Postgres event 9 Source: fosdem.org/2020 38 18 Livestream talks 20 On-demand talks 15 Postgres deep-dives Sessions
28. @clairegiordano Shine a bright light on other people’s work. Recognition matters. • Privately. Publicly. Both. • Beyond code • Not just developers @clairegiordano 10 created by Andreas Scherbaum
29. @clairegiordano 11 Report bugs with Postgres When you find a bug with Postgres we want to hear about it.” “ “ Your bug reports play an important part in making PostgreSQL more reliable.” Source: postgresql.org
30. @clairegiordano 11 Source: postgresql.org WHERE to report bugs When you find a bug with Postgres we want to hear about it.” “ “ Your bug reports play an important part in making PostgreSQL more reliable.”
31. @clairegiordano User testing your own applications! new features recent docs updates –––tell the PG community when things work 12 Imaginary email.... To: pgsql-hackers Lists: pgsql-hackers Just tested our application FOOBAR with the beta release candidate for Postgres 15 and wanted to let y’all that it worked!
32. @clairegiordano Help with message translations Mailing list: pgsql-translators More info: babel.postgresql.org Instructions in Postgres docs: “Native Language support” 13
33. @clairegiordano Submit corrections to documentation Clarify Disambiguate Help new people understand 14 @clairegiordano Source: postgresql.org
34. @clairegiordano Submit corrections to documentation Clarify Disambiguate Help new people understand 14 @clairegiordano Source: postgresql.org
35. @clairegiordano Stickers are a thing Promote your PG projects Spark unexpected conversations 15
36. @clairegiordano Use your design skills • Citus elicorn • Citus Con pink elephant • Postgres Activity Book Graphics & visuals pull people in Source: Citus “sharded” elicorn mascot 16
37. @clairegiordano Use your design skills • Citus elicorn • Citus Con pink elephant • Postgres Activity Book Graphics & visuals pull people in 16
38. @clairegiordano Use your design skills • Citus elicorn • Citus Con pink elephant • Postgres Activity Book Graphics & visuals pull people in 16
39. @clairegiordano Use “Sketchnotes” to share your learnings Combine words, lettering styles, color, sketches, bullets 17 @clairegiordano Source: twitter.com/reverentgeek
40. @clairegiordano Make people feel welcome Answer questions. Lots of questions. Slack. IRC. Stack Overflow. Mailing lists. @clairegiordano 18
41. @clairegiordano 18 Ways to Contribute to Postgres—Beyond Code 1. Write 2. Give a Talk 3. Write a book 4. Video 5. Outreach to other dev communities 6. User stories 7. Promote, tweet too 8. Run & support Meetups 9. Organize a PG event 10. Shine light on others 11. Report bugs 12. User testing of stuff 13. Translations 14. Doc feedback 15. Stickers 16. Design skills 17. #sketchnotes 18. Welcome people in, & answer lots of questions @clairegiordano
42. @clairegiordano
43. @clairegiordano Thank you @citusdata • @CitusCon • @AzureDBPostgres @clairegiordano