Re: Democracy and organisation : let's make a revolution in

Tom Lane wrote:
> Josh Berkus <josh(at)agliodbs(dot)com> writes:
> > Frankly, my feeling is, as a "geek-to-geek" product, PostgreSQL is already
> > adequately marketed through our huge network of DBA users and code
> > contributors.
>
> Well, mumble ... it seems to me that we are definitely suffering from
> a "buzz gap" (cf missile gap, Dr Strangelove, etc) compared to MySQL.
> That doesn't bother me in itself, but the long-term implications are
> scary. If MySQL manages to attract a larger development community as
> a consequence of more usage or better marketing, then eventually they
> will be ahead of us on features and every other measure that counts.
> Once we're number two with no prayer of catching up, how long will our
> project remain viable? So, no matter how silly you might think
> "MySQL is better" is today, you've got to consider the prospect that
> it will become a self-fulfilling prophecy.
>
> So far I have not worried about that scenario too much, because Monty
> has always treated the MySQL sources as his personal preserve; if he
> hadn't written it or closely reviewed it, it didn't get in, and if it
> didn't hew closely to his opinion of what's important, it didn't get in.
> But I get the impression that he's loosened up of late. If MySQL stops
> being limited by what one guy can do or review, their rate of progress
> could improve dramatically.
>
> In short: we could use an organized marketing effort. I really
> feel the lack of Great Bridge these days; there isn't anyone with
> comparable willingness to expend marketing talent and dollars on
> promoting Postgres as such. Not sure what to do about it. We've
> sort of dismissed Jean-Michel's comments (and those of others in
> the past) with "sure, step right up and do the marketing" responses.
> But the truth of the matter is that a few amateurs with no budget
> won't make much of an impression. We really need some professionals
> with actual dollars to spend, and I don't know where to find 'em.

OK, let me make some comments on this. First, Great Bridge had me doing
some marketing stuff while I was with them. This included trade shows,
magazine articles, and interviews. I am available to do all those
again. GB lined up the contacts and got it all started. If people want
me to do more of that, I can find the time.

I am not sure how effective that was. There was a lot more marketing
done by Great Bridge that would take lots of money to do.

Do people want an advocacy article written, like "How to choose a
database?" I could do that.

Basically, I am open to ideas. Would it help to fly me out to meet IT
leaders? More books/articles? What does it take? What do successful
companies and open source projects do that works?

--
Bruce Momjian | http://candle.pha.pa.us
pgman(at)candle(dot)pha(dot)pa(dot)us | (610) 853-3000
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