Behind Postgres 18: The People, the Code, & the Invisible Work
Wednesday, October 22 at 11:15–12:05
Ever wonder who makes Postgres happen? Not just the new features in Postgres 18—but the people, the processes, and the invisible work that brings each new release to life? Let’s find out. In an open source project like Postgres, recognizing the behind-the-scenes volunteer work isn’t just nice—it’s necessary.
This revamped version of last year’s PGConf EU talk shares a fresh analysis of the contributions to Postgres in the v18 timeframe. Like last year’s talk, this research is done by Postgres committer Daniel Gustafsson and Claire Giordano—and builds on community data sources including commit logs, mailing lists, and the PostgreSQL.org site. You’ll see maps and charts as you learn about the people behind governance, conferences, meetups, infrastructure, and the code. But this year there will be new insights—and more stories. Like: who translates all the error messages? And what went into making PGConf.dev feel so magical?
You’ll leave with a deeper appreciation for the full spectrum of work behind a Postgres release—and a few concrete ideas for how we can better recognize the people who make it happen. Because when we recognize the people doing this work, it’s more than a thank you—it’s how we grow the next generation of contributors.
