Re: PostgreSQL Contributor levels

Hi Christoph,

I think "Significant Contributor" fits in between "Major Contributor" and "Contributor".

"Sustained" has a time element and sounds terrible on a CV :-) , and "Recognised" is kind of redundant, since they're all recognition levels.

Best,
Jimmy

On 15 August 2025 18:30:23 BST, Christoph Berg <myon(at)debian(dot)org> wrote:
>We have this curated list of PostgreSQL Contributors on the website:
>https://www.postgresql.org/community/contributors/
>There are two levels currently (3 when counting the Core Team):
>* Major Contributor
>* Contributor
>
>You are a "Contributor" when you appear on this list.
>
>But we also have long lists of "individuals [who] have contributed" in
>the release notes:
>https://www.postgresql.org/docs/17/release-17.html#RELEASE-17-ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
>
>You are a contributor when you contributed to the release.
>
>Clearly, there are more ways to contribute, and the term "Contributor"
>on the curated list should probably be more specific.
>
>In the Contributors Team, we have been floating around ideas on
>how the structure should look like in the future, but we would like to
>gather more input from the project.
>
>* People put high value in the curated list (people get hired for
> being in there), so we try to keep the standards high.
>
>* At the same time, we want to be more inclusive. People in the
> release notes are clearly contributors as well, so we are thinking
> about adding a 3rd category.
>
>* We need (at least) a better name for "Contributor" (currently level 2).
> Ideas included "Sustained Contributor" and "Recognized Contributor",
> but there are probably better ideas.
>
>* If we add a (low threshold, easy to get into) 3rd level, we need a
> name. Maybe "Acknowledged Contributor", maybe just "Contributor".
>
>* "Major Contributor" is probably fine.
>
>* It's not yet clear how we would present 3 levels in that list, as the
> page is currently already very long. Possibly the 3rd level would
> appear in a separate page.
>
>* A related project (to be discussed in parallel) is introducing
> contributor tags/badges like "PG 18 contributor" "PG committer" or
> "PGconf.EU 2025 organzier" that we could show in the list or related
> pages. Getting tags/badges would then likely bring people into the
> 3rd level.
>
>Any feedback or input is welcome!
>
>Christoph
>