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

On Thu, 2002-06-20 at 14:33, Jean-Michel POURE wrote:
> Le Jeudi 20 Juin 2002 13:39, Karel Zak a écrit :
> > IMHO there is not problem with organization -- I don't know what do
> > you want to organize on actual number of developers / contributors
>
> Dear Karel,
>
> My previous e-mail points out several projects where, IMHO, a leadership would
> benefit the community at large :
> - replication,
> - W32 port,
> - marketing (read the post "Read this and puke").
>
> > What is non-democratic now?
>
> The current processes are based on discussion, and therefore are democratic.
> My proposal does not intend to change discussion processes between
> pgsql-hackers.
>
> But, in order to face companies like MySQL AB, Oracle or Micro$oft, the
> community needs to take important decisions that will help team work. A
> clarified organization would help.

In what way ?

Do you really think that if we would elect Tom or Bruce or someone else
"The President of the PostgreSQL Community" then their word would weight
more in mainstream press ?

> Please note I am not a PostgreSQL hacker myself, as I do not contribute code
> to PostgreSQL main sources. But, as an outside spectator, I would only like
> to point out that some efforts need coordination.
>
> Debian is a very interesting example of Open-Source organization, as for all
> aspects linked to "decision making". Usually, at Debian, when a discussion is
> driven, a clear choice arizes after a limited time. Projects are sometimes
> slow, but always reach their goals.

From an "outside spactator" perspective Debian seems to be really,
really slow.

> As for current PostgreSQL organization, can someone explain me which W32 port
> will make its way to PostgreSQL main source code?

There is already one W32 port in main source (the one that uses cygwin).

IMHO the first native port that
a) works
b) does not make *nix version slower/harder to maintain
and
c) is submitted for inclusion will make it into main source.

> Can someone publish a schedule for replication availability?

I guess any of the teams working on different ways to replicate could do
it. Another question is if they can stick to it.

> Who is in charge of explaining newbees that MySQL InnoDB is just a
> marketing lie?

Nobody is "in charge", but everybody is welcome to do it, even without
being "elected" or "nominated ";)

Still, having a "success stories" or "advocacy" section on
www.postgresq.org seems like a good idea.

> What is the current PostgreSQL market share?
>
> In other words, we should ask ourselves the question of PostgreSQL future
> organization.

The current organization is "a loosely knit team" which seems to work
quite well.

> We come to point where PostgreSQL has equal chances to become
> the #1 database or die like Betamax.

Open-source will probably work differently, i.e postgres will probably
not die even if it will not be #1.

----------------
Hannu