Are we losing momentum?

Several people have asked if we are losing momentum. Specifically, they
are concerned about Red Hat dropping their Red Hat Database and instead
distributing PostgreSQL as part of Red Hat Enterprise Server, and they
are concerned about recent press articles about MySQL.

Let me address these. First, the Red Hat change probably has a lot to
do with Oracle's relationship with Red Hat, and very little to do with
PostgreSQL. Their pullback is similar to Great Bridge's closing, except
that Red Hat's database group is still around, so we aren't losing Tom
Lane or Patrick MacDonald (who is completing our PITR work for 7.4).

As far as MySQL, they have a company to push articles to the press, and
many writers just dress them up and print them --- you can tell them
because the pushed ones mention only MySQL, while the non=pushed ones
mention MySQL and PostgreSQL.

I have been around the globe enough to know that PostgreSQL is well on
track. Our user base is growing, we have Win32 and PITR ready for 7.4
(and each had some commercial funding to make them happen.) Recently, I
have also been fielding questions from several companies that want to
hire PostgreSQL developers to work for the community.

But most importantly, there is mind share. I get _very_ few questions
about MySQL anymore, and when the database topic comes up on Slashdot,
the MySQL guys usually end up looking foolish for using MySQL. And my
recent trip to Toronto (who's details I have shared with core but can
not discuss) left no doubt in my mind that PostgreSQL is moving forward
at a rapid rate.

And, I have 1.5k emails to read after a one week trip. :-)

--
Bruce Momjian | http://candle.pha.pa.us
pgman(at)candle(dot)pha(dot)pa(dot)us | (610) 359-1001
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