Upgrade to Pro — share decks privately, control downloads, hide ads and more …

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

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

Claire Giordano

May 06, 2022
Tweet

More Decks by Claire Giordano

Other Decks in Programming

Transcript

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

    View Slide

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

    View Slide

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

    View Slide

  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, …

    View Slide

  5. @clairegiordano

    View Slide

  6. @clairegiordano

    View Slide

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

    View Slide

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

    View Slide

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

    View Slide

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

    View Slide

  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!)

    View Slide

  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

    View Slide

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

    View Slide

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

    View Slide

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

    View Slide

  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

    View Slide

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

    View Slide

  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

    View Slide

  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

    View Slide

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

    View Slide

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

    View Slide

  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

    View Slide

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

    View Slide

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

    View Slide

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

    View Slide

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

    View Slide

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

    View Slide

  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

    View Slide

  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

    View Slide

  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.”

    View Slide

  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!

    View Slide

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

    View Slide

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

    View Slide

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

    View Slide

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

    View Slide

  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

    View Slide

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

    View Slide

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

    View Slide

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

    View Slide

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

    View Slide

  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

    View Slide

  42. @clairegiordano

    View Slide

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

    View Slide