Fibonacci Spirals and Ways to Contribute to Postgres—Beyond Code | Giordano | Citus Con: An Event for Postgres 2022

Postgres is growing like gangbusters: in popularity, in adoption, and in the size of the ecosystem. And over 650 developers contribute code to Postgres: their expertise, dedication, and skill are big factors in the increasing popularity of Postgres. But what if you’re not a developer: are there things you can do to help the Postgres community? Or what if you are a developer, and you love this project, and you want to do even more: are there non-code ways to contribute to Postgres?

In this virtual presentation from Citus Con: An Event for Postgres in 2022, I updated version of the kickoff talk I gave in the PostgreSQL devroom at FOSDEM 2020. This Citus Con talk walks you through 18 important ways you can contribute to Postgres, beyond code—along with tips and resources for getting started. Many of these contributions apply equally well to other open source projects, too.

Video of the presentation is available on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lkRUy6BBiU0

Transcript

1. @clairegiordano
   FIBONACCI SPIRALS &
   WAYS TO CONTRIBUTE TO
   POSTGRES—BEYOND CODE
   Claire Giordano
   @clairegiordano • @citusdata • @AzureDBPostgres
   

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2. @clairegiordano
   Leonardo Pisano Bigollo
   (1170–1240)
   Source: Wikimedia Commons [Public Domain]
   

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3. @clairegiordano
   1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89...
   FIBONACCI SEQUENCE
   Source: Wikimedia Commons [Public Domain]
   

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4. @clairegiordano
   2
   3
   5
   8
   13
   21
   What do Fibonacci
   spirals have to do
   with contributing to
   Postgres?
   1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, …
   

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5. @clairegiordano
   

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6. @clairegiordano
   

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7. @clairegiordano
   @clairegiordano
   WAYS TO
   CONTRIBUTE TO
   POSTGRES—
   BEYOND CODE
   

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8. @clairegiordano
   Why ”Beyond Code”?
   What if… you’re not a developer?
   @clairegiordano
   

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9. @clairegiordano
   Josh Berkus gave a similar talk in ~2013
   Source: Josh Berkus on GitHub: https://jberkus.github.io/pdf_presos/50_ways.pdf
   

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10. @clairegiordano
    This is how Josh drew ”Contribution Pie” in 2013
    

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11. @clairegiordano
    Why Beyond Code?
    Just like racing sailboats
    Every person in the crew—every
    role—matters
    Source: Livestream of Rolex Big Boats Racing Series, Sep 2021
    (my son is on the crew!)
    

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12. @clairegiordano
    18 Ways to Contribute to Postgres—Beyond Code
    1. Write
    2. Give a Talk
    3. Write a book
    4. Video
    5. Outreach to other dev
    communities
    6. User stories
    7. Promote, tweet too
    8. Run & support Meetups
    9. Organize a PG event
    10. Shine light on others
    11. Report bugs
    12. User testing of stuff
    13. Translations
    14. Doc feedback
    15. Stickers
    16. Design skills
    17. #sketchnotes
    18. Welcome people in, &
    answer lots of questions
    @clairegiordano
    

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13. @clairegiordano
    Share learnings & expertise
    Shine light on value of Postgres
    1
    Write a blog post
    Publish an article
    

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14. @clairegiordano
    1
    Syndicate to
    Planet Postgres
    • to increase reach of your posts
    • @planetpostgres on Twitter, too
    

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15. @clairegiordano
    Share your expertise—give a talk
    Source: fosdem.org/2020
    2
    

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16. @clairegiordano
    @clairegiordano
    CLAIRE15 ~ a 15% off discount on any edition
    Source: theartofpostgresql.com
    3
    Write a Book
    make it easier for
    newcomers to use
    Postgres
    

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17. @clairegiordano
    Write a Book
    make it easier for
    newcomers to use
    Postgres
    @clairegiordano
    Source: sql-performance-explained.com
    3
    

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18. @clairegiordano
    4
    @clairegiordano
    Use Video to show what
    Postgres can do
    Some people learn better via
    video
    Source: aka.ms/how-citus-distributes-postgres
    

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19. @clairegiordano
    4
    Good video metadata
    will help your video get
    discovered
    don’t forget to use meaningful
    keywords in the filename!
    Thumbnail
    Description
    3 hashtags
    Bookmarks
    Links
    Chapters
    Title
    

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20. @clairegiordano
    Outreach to your other dev communities
    5
    Source: Louise Grandjonc talk at DjangoCon US YouTube, DjangoCon 2019
    

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21. @clairegiordano
    Interview your users & tell their stories
    • Story
    • Headlines
    • Diagrams
    • Big Metrics
    • “Pull quotes”
    6
    

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22. @clairegiordano
    Interview your users & tell their stories
    • ~77.9K views
    • aka.ms/blog-ukcovid19-
    dashboard-citus
    6
    Example: Co-authored
    post w/ Pouria
    Hadjibagheri of UKHSA
    on implementation of
    UK COVID-19 dashboard
    

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23. @clairegiordano
    7
    If you build it, they will NOT come. PROMOTE.
    

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24. @clairegiordano
    Promote on Twitter
    learnings,
    ideas,
    talks,
    meetups,
    TIL, QOTD, OH,
    how-to
    7
    

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25. @clairegiordano
    Promote on Twitter
    new events, too!
    7
    

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26. @clairegiordano
    26
    Source: @PostgreSQLNL, @OptimaDataBV
    z
    Run, host, & support local meetups
    8
    

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27. @clairegiordano
    Organize a Postgres event
    9
    Source: fosdem.org/2020
    38
    18 Livestream talks
    20 On-demand talks
    15 Postgres deep-dives
    Sessions
    

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28. @clairegiordano
    Shine a bright light on
    other people’s work.
    Recognition matters.
    • Privately. Publicly. Both.
    • Beyond code
    • Not just developers
    @clairegiordano
    10
    created by Andreas Scherbaum
    

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29. @clairegiordano
    11
    Report bugs with
    Postgres
    When you find a bug with Postgres
    we want to hear about it.”
    “
    “ Your bug reports play an important
    part in making PostgreSQL more
    reliable.”
    Source: postgresql.org
    

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30. @clairegiordano
    11
    Source: postgresql.org
    WHERE to report bugs
    When you find a bug with Postgres
    we want to hear about it.”
    “
    “ Your bug reports play an important
    part in making PostgreSQL more
    reliable.”
    

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31. @clairegiordano
    User testing
    your own applications!
    new features
    recent docs updates
    –––tell the PG community when
    things work
    12
    Imaginary email....
    To: pgsql-hackers
    Lists: pgsql-hackers
    Just tested our
    application FOOBAR with
    the beta release
    candidate for Postgres
    15 and wanted to let y’all
    that it worked!
    

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32. @clairegiordano
    Help with message
    translations
    Mailing list: pgsql-translators
    More info: babel.postgresql.org
    Instructions in Postgres docs:
    “Native Language support”
    13
    

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33. @clairegiordano
    Submit corrections
    to documentation
    Clarify
    Disambiguate
    Help new people understand
    14
    @clairegiordano
    Source: postgresql.org
    

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34. @clairegiordano
    Submit corrections
    to documentation
    Clarify
    Disambiguate
    Help new people understand
    14
    @clairegiordano
    Source: postgresql.org
    

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35. @clairegiordano
    Stickers are a thing
    Promote your PG projects
    Spark unexpected conversations
    15
    

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36. @clairegiordano
    Use your design skills
    • Citus elicorn
    • Citus Con pink elephant
    • Postgres Activity Book
    Graphics & visuals pull people in
    Source: Citus “sharded” elicorn mascot
    16
    

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37. @clairegiordano
    Use your design skills
    • Citus elicorn
    • Citus Con pink elephant
    • Postgres Activity Book
    Graphics & visuals pull people in
    16
    

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38. @clairegiordano
    Use your design skills
    • Citus elicorn
    • Citus Con pink elephant
    • Postgres Activity Book
    Graphics & visuals pull people in
    16
    

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39. @clairegiordano
    Use “Sketchnotes” to
    share your learnings
    Combine words, lettering styles,
    color, sketches, bullets
    17
    @clairegiordano
    Source: twitter.com/reverentgeek
    

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40. @clairegiordano
    Make people feel
    welcome
    Answer questions.
    Lots of questions.
    Slack. IRC. Stack Overflow.
    Mailing lists.
    @clairegiordano
    18
    

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41. @clairegiordano
    18 Ways to Contribute to Postgres—Beyond Code
    1. Write
    2. Give a Talk
    3. Write a book
    4. Video
    5. Outreach to other dev
    communities
    6. User stories
    7. Promote, tweet too
    8. Run & support Meetups
    9. Organize a PG event
    10. Shine light on others
    11. Report bugs
    12. User testing of stuff
    13. Translations
    14. Doc feedback
    15. Stickers
    16. Design skills
    17. #sketchnotes
    18. Welcome people in, &
    answer lots of questions
    @clairegiordano
    

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42. @clairegiordano
    

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43. @clairegiordano
    Thank you
    @citusdata • @CitusCon • @AzureDBPostgres
    @clairegiordano
    

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